The Military Scientific Committee of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is designed to meet the challenges of the scientific study of perspective directions of building, development, training, use and support of the RF Armed Forces in real and forecasted military, political, economic and demographic conditions.

The main tasks of the Military Scientific Committee are as follows:

• Advance development of the theory of building, training and use of the Armed Forces, study of the conditions and recommendations for improvement of their structure, improvement of the forms and methods of combat use of combined troops, development of armaments and military equipment, study of other more pressing issues;
• Improvement of research planning and coordination of research organizations and educational institutions of the Ministry of Defence, research organizations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), other Ministries and Agencies engaged in research on defensive subjects;
• Improvement of the military-scientific complex of the Armed Forces, its composition, structure and established strength, taking into account the existing needs, strengthening of the regulatory framework determining the conditions and procedures for the functioning of the complex;
• Development of the modeling and laboratory-and-experimental base, further automation of the process of research, including information support;
• The leadership of the military historical work, the scientific information and publishing activities in the Armed Forces;
• Organization and coordination of military scientific cooperation with foreign countries.

The Chairman of the Military Scientific Committee of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation / Deputy Chief of the General Staff is Igor’ Anatolyevich Sheremet.

Military Science in Tsarist Russia

The background to the emergence of military-and-scientific authorities in Russia appeared after forming the General Staff of the Russian Army on January 30, 1763. In fact, empress Catherine II created a military authority, able to carry out a single, centralized control of the armed forces of the state. The first military libraries and archives appeared at it. They kept the historical documents – descriptions of battles, plans and maps of troops’ disposition. On the basis of these materials, instructions and articles on troops’ training on the battlefield were developed.

Later on the establishment of the War Ministry of Russia on September 8, 1802 had a great importance for military-scientific authorities. In just 10 years, on January 27, 1812 for the first time in the military history of our country the Military Scientific Committee (PAC) was created at this department. It consisted of six permanent members (two – on the quartermaster part, two – on the artillery part, and two more – on the engineering part), as well as honorary members and corresponding members from Russia and other countries.

Under the Charter, the first Military Scientific Committee undertook the following tasks:

• collected «all newly published works best on martial art and different spheres related to it»;
• appointing «the best and most useful of them to translate to the Russian language»;
• considered «projects and proposals on scientific military science presented the views about them to the Minister of War»;
• published a military magazine;
• produced examinations for all the officials, «coming in scientific corps of the Military Department»;
• participated in oversight of all the «scientific institutions in the quartermaster, engineering and artillery parts...».

The purpose of the establishment of the Military Committee was to «improve the scientific methods of military art and spread military-scientific information in the troops». It can be said this purpose is relevant at the present time too. In its history, the Committee has repeatedly changed its name and structure, but the direction of activity – scientific – remained unchanged.

In the second half of the XIX century, the Military Scientific Committee (MSC) designed by Catherine ceased to exist. It was replaced by the Advisory Committee, which was later renamed into the Military Scientific Committee of the General Staff. The area of responsibility of this body included scientific work of the General Staff, the Corps of military surveyors, as well as education of the armed forces and military archives. In addition, the Committee dealt with distribution of cash subsidies for publication of military-historical works. For example, the Military Committee published of such major military theoretical works as «The Great Northern War. Documents of 1705-1708», «Letters and papers of A.V. Suvorov, G.A. Potemkin and P.A. Rumyantsev. 1787-1789». Military heritage, left after Peter the Great reign, the Swedish wars, the war of 1812 were deeply studied. In 1878 the Military-Historical Commission at the Military Scientific Committee was set up to describe the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-78.
In 1900, the Military Scientific Committee was disbanded.

At the beginning of the XX century, the MSC functions were performed by the Committee of the Main Staff, Committee on Education of troops, Committee of the General Staff. These bodies had broad powers and are able to lead the development of fundamental works on military strategy, tactics and military history. They were manned by prominent Russian military scientists, who created numerous military theoretical and military-historical works, topical to date.

Military science in the Soviet Union

Bolsheviks having come to power as a result of the October Revolution of 1917 paid a great attention to the military science. On February 10, 1925 the Order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Red Army formed the Administration on Exploration and Use of the Experience of Troops. Under its leadership military-historical, military-scientific and regulations activities were conducted in the Red Army.

Later, during the Great Patriotic War, the Department on using of the war experience was created on the basis of the section of operational training of the General Staff. Its objective was to study and generalize combat experience, to develop combined-arms manuals and instructions on how to conduct combat, to prepare orders, directives of the People’s Commissar of Defence and the Chief of the General Staff on using the war experience, to describe operations of the Second World War for the «Collected Materials on studying war experience».

After the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the study of historical experience and the development of military-theoretical problems were realized by the Administration on using of the war experience, Military historical department, Archives of the General Staff and the Archives of the Red Army at the General Staff.

They were these bodies, which formed the basis for creation in 1953 of the Military Science Administration of the General Staff. It existed for quarter-century, was disbanded and re-established already in 1985. Over 70 years of its history (1925-1995) the military-scientific bodies have undergone about 40 modifications.

Military science in Russia today

On October 25, 1999 the Military Scientific Committee of the General Staff was formed. Exactly 10 years later on its basis the Directive of the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation of September 8, 2009 created the Military Scientific Committee of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (MSC of the RF Armed Forces).

Currently, this Committee is a control body of military science, which reports directly to the Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces / First Deputy Minister of the RF Defence. The Committee is led by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Major-General Igor Sheremet.