Battalion tactical group

[7] Depending on the assigned mission, a battalion could receive additional tanks or motorized rifle infantry, plus supporting elements like artillery, air defense, engineers, or reconnaissance units.

[14] The switch to a defensive military strategy under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev rendered large-scale army reforms politically unacceptable.

[16] Further tactical reform would have required the Soviets to abandon simple battle drills and introduce more sophisticated combat techniques down to the company and platoon level, which was only possible with a body of professional non-commissioned officers.

After Anatoliy Serdyukov was dismissed as defence minister and replaced by Sergei Shoigu in November 2012, this plan was shelved in favour of forming "permanent readiness" BTGs within garrison brigades.

[20] Reports from the Russo-Ukrainian War cited in the July–September 2016 edition of the US military journal Armor identified BTGs as the majority of Russian units deployed there.

[27] The UK Ministry of Defence observed that from September to November 2022, Russian forces had largely stopped deploying BTGs, noting their intrinsic weaknesses.

As such, a BTG can engage opposing units out to a longer range than, for example, a US Brigade Combat Team (BCT), which does not have heavy weapons devolved down to it.

[30] However, the basic BTG's relative lack of manpower (they deploy with about 200 infantrymen) means it is not designed to hold ground but to continually inflict casualties while remaining mobile.

This makes it reliant upon Marines, VDV and other troops such as paramilitaries (pro-Russian militias in the Donbass war) to hold ground or provide security along the flanks and rear.[5]: p.

11–13  The role for attacking urban environments in Russian doctrine is normally carried out by Marines and VDV (Airborne and air assault troops), this is even more so after 1st Battle of Grozny.