Russian Mot. Rifle Company—BTR (Current) By Brendan Matsuyama , Editor

The following is the current organization of the BTR-equipped Motorized Rifle Company (Мотострелковая рота) of the Russian Ground Forces following the Serdyukov reforms of 2008-9. You can check out our article on the

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BMP companies As with the Soviet Union, the Motorized Rifles are the Russian Federation's principle form of infantry. The Motorized Rifle Company is the maneuver element of the Motorized Rifle Battalion, which is one of the two primary types of close combat units of action in the Russian Ground Forces—the other being the Tank Battalion—and the basis of formations like the Battalion Tactical Group. The Russians field a number of different infantry fighting vehicles, including the BMP, BTR and MT-LBM. This article applies specifically to the BTR-equipped Motorized Rifle Company—adhere to a different organization—and consists of a Company Headquarters, 3 Motorized Rifle Platoons and 1 Anti-Tank Section (ATGMs).

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Company Headquarters & Supporting Elements

The Company Headquarters consists of 1 officer, 3 senior NCOs and 4 enlisted personnel housed in a single BTR.

The Company Commander—a Captain—sits in the vehicle commander seat. The BTR is further crewed by the company's Senior Driver-Mechanic—a Yefreyter—and a Vehicle Gunner. A Starshina—equivalent to a Warrant Officer in the British system—acts as the Senior Technician while another acts as the Company Starshina—equivalent to a Company Sergeant Major or First Sergeant. It is possible that the Senior Technician billet replaced a Deputy for Personnel/Manpower billet that existed in the Company HQ in the 2000s. The remaining personnel include a Radiotelephone Operator—a new 2010 addition—an SBR-5 radar operator, and a Medical NCO/Sanitary Instructor. The SBR-5, also known as the Fara-1, is a portable short-range surveillance radar used for the detection of moving targets, ranging from man-sized targets to vehicles.

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The company is supported by an Anti-Tank Section consisting of 9 men (including 2 vehicle crewmen) and serving 3 Komat or Metis Anti-Tank Guided Missiles. The section comes under the leadership of a Section Commander, with 3 teams of 2 men each. The teams consist of a Senior Operator, manning the ATGM, and an Operator who acts as an assistant and ammo mule. The section has its own integral BTR.

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Motorized Rifle Platoons

The close combat element of the Motorized Rifle Company was the Motorized Rifle Platoon. Led by the Platoon Commander—typically a Junior Lieutenant or Lieutenant—it consists of a Platoon Headquarters and 3 Motorized Rifle Sections. Each platoon has 3 BTRs. The typical model used would be the BTR-80/82, although there are many older variants as reserves and a limited number of the newer BTR-90 in service.

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The Platoon Headquarters is slightly leaner than it was in the 2000s. It now only consists of the Platoon Commander and Deputy Platoon Commander—a Senior Sergeant. Both act as vehicle commanders. However, the Platoon Commander typically dismounts while the Deputy Platoon Commander does not. Thus, the Deputy takes command of the mounted element. Prior, there had also been a 2-man PKM team, SVD-equipped Sniper and Medic-Rifleman. These billets have been removed, although it is likely that the Medic-Rifleman billet has just been shifted to one of the members of the rifle sections.

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Each Motorized Rifle Section consists of 8 to 9 personnel. In BTR platoons, 2 sections per platoon will be 9-man while 1 section will be 8-man. The section has 3 distinct elements: the Fire Group, Maneuver Group, and Vehicle Crew. The section comes under the overall command of the Section Commander—a Junior Sergeant or Sergeant. They act as the vehicle commander of their BTR when the Platoon Commander or Deputy Platoon Commander are not present, but dismount with their section. If the Platoon Commander or the Deputy are sitting in the vehicle commander seat, the Section Commander sits with the rest of the dismounts. The Vehicle Crew are integral to the platoon and subordinate to its command structure, but the vehicles and personnel are technically assigned from the battalion-level. These include the Vehicle Gunner, who doubles as an assistant vehicle commander as they take control of the vehicle when vehicle commander dismounts, and the Driver-Mechanic. In section-level fire and maneuver, the BTR can be considered a heavily protected machine gun team.

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The dismounts consist of the Fire Group and Maneuver Group. The Section Commander typically positions themselves within the Fire Group, while the Senior Rifleman—a Yefreytor—leads the Maneuver Group. The use and composition of Fire Groups and Maneuver Groups seems more fluid that a western fire team, but generally the Fire Group will have the RPG-7 and PKP (although this can vary). Unlike in Soviet times, the Grenadier now is armed with an AK-74M Rifle typically, although the AKS-74U Carbine is also seen in use. The AKS-74U is the inferior weapon, given its unreliability and relatively low effective range when compared to other AK-74s, but is less bulky and about 1.5 lbs lighter than the AK-74M. The Grenadier typically carries 2 rockets, while the assistant carries 3 rockets. Disposable light anti-tank weapons, when available, would probably go to personnel like the Senior Rifleman, Rifleman and Section Commander who aren't encumbered with machine gun or RPG ammo. In the section that had 8 men instead of 9 men, the Rifleman would be deleted.

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There were 2 major changes to the platoon's weapon systems from the 2000s. Firstly, the RPK-74M seems to have been steadily replaced in the Motorized Rifle Branch at the section-level with the PKP General-Purpose Machine Gun, with the PKM also being used in the role. The PKP is essentially a modernized PKM, with features that lend itself more to the squad automatic weapon end of the GPMG spectrum (including a force air-cooled barrel rather than quick change barrels). Each section is equipped with 1 PKP/PKM, with the gunner being assisted by an Assistant Machine Gunner who also acts as a rifleman. The standard load per gun is 600 rounds. It appears that with the introduction of the PKP at the section-level, the platoon-level PKM team was dissolved (at least in BTR-equipped units). It is generally understood that high readiness units and deployed units have the PKP, while the RPK-74 may still see some use in low readiness units or units in garrison/training.