RG gave us the scantest info. The Russian Army is upgrading an independent tank battalion to a regiment in Smolensk oblast, in the Western MD. The new regiment will belong to one of the 20th CAA’s motorized rifle divisions.
It reportedly will be outfitted with T-72BA tanks, BMP-2 AIFVs, engineer and repair-recovery vehicles, air defense, and recce.
According to RG, the 20th CAA is the largest “large formation” [объединение — anything above a division] in Russia’s armed forces. It is deployed along Russia’s western border in Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk, and Smolensk oblasts.
Then one has to scrounge. There’s info of varying quality and completeness available. Sometimes you find something like this or this.
The new tank regiment will be part of the 144th Motorized Rifle Division, based in Smolensk and Bryansk oblasts. The 144th at present may look like this:
- Headquarters (Yelnya, Smolensk obl.)
- 448th Motorized Rifle Regiment (Klintsy, Bryansk obl.)
- 182nd Motorized Rifle Regiment (Zaymishche, Bryansk obl.)
- 254th Motorized Rifle Regiment (Klintsy)
- 228th Tank Regiment (Klintsy)
- 856th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (Pochep, Bryansk obl.)
- 1259th SAM Regiment (???)
- 673rd SAM Battalion (???)
- 148th Reconnaissance Battalion (Smolensk)
- 1281st Anti-Tank Battalion (Yelnya)
- 295th Engineer Battalion (Yelnya)
- 686th Signals Battalion (Smolensk)
- 1032nd Material Support Battalion (Pochep)
- 150th Medical Battalion (Pochep)
- UAV Company (???)
- EW Company (???)
- Radiological, Chemical, Biological Defense Company (???)
In the first link above, Yuriy Barash, a Ukrainian observer, maintains in 2017 the 144th began forming up its 182nd MRR, 228th TR, and 1259th SAM Regiment as well as anti-tank, material support, and medical battalions. It had not started forming up the 254th MRR or the specialist companies, according to him.
So does the 228th Tank Regiment already exist? No and yes.
If Barash’s TO&E for the 144th isn’t wrong (but it could be), the 448th MRR and 856th SP Artillery Regiment appear to be its only fleshed out and combat-capable units. In 2017, he held only 40 T-72s in the division (the tank battalion of the 448th).
CAST, however, suggested that the 144th has an independent tank battalion that will be upgraded to a regiment, to become the 228th TR.
There are also discrepancies regarding the locations of different units.
Welcome to following Russia’s OOB.
Here’s the moral. Saying you have a division on your western border is one thing; actually having one is something else.
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