Theatre of Military Operations

:"See also American theater of operations"Theatres of Military Operations (Russian: Театр военных действий, (ТВД); Teatr Voennykh Deistvii,(TVD)) is a term used in the Soviet Armed Forces and Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to describe the continental geographic territories with their bordering maritime areas, islands, adjacent coasts and airspace.
The division of large continental and maritime areas assist in determining the limits within which the plans for operation of strategic military groups of forces are developed, allowing conduct of military operations on specific significant strategic directions.

trategic parameters

A TVD at once describes a geographic strategic Area of Operations (AO), and an echelon of command within a national military command structure, which control Geographic Military Commands, Strategic Directions, Military Districts, Fronts or independent Army Groups or Armies.

Each TVD has specific military-political, military, economic, geophysical and ethnographic conditions that influence decision making during its operational planning and execution of operations, and often special engineering equipment that influence preparation and conduct of military operations.

Often the land and naval TVDs are commanded by specific Service of the Armed Forces depending on the predominant conditions and forces deployed in them, although it is not unusual for substantial naval forces such as Fleets and Flotillas to be subordinated to land-based TVDs.

In addition to the land TVDs, there are also Oceanic TVDs and Sea TVDs that cover large ocean and sea areas with their adjacent coasts and airspace. The Russian VMF bases its plans, and conducts its large-scale strategic naval operations forces within these areas using its in coordination with ground forces and VVS.

The size of continental Theater of Military Operation during the Second World War (1939-45) usually reached 300 - 600 km along its front, and 800-1000 km or more in depth. Depending on the specific prevailing strategic or military-political situation the role and value the Theater of Military Operations can change rapidly and significantly.

Organisational structure

During the period of the Soviet, and now the Russian Federation several clearly defined TVDs existed in time of peace and war to assist with military-political strategic management of forces divided into the following regions:

European Theatre

** Northern Oceanic Strategic Direction including

** Baltic Sea maritime theatre

** North Sea maritime theatre

** White Sea maritime theatre

** Arctic Ocean maritime theatre
*North-Western TVD

** Northern Strategic Direction existed during WWII

** Baltic strategic direction existed during WWII

*Western TVD was also known as *'Central' TVD
** Belorussian Strategic Direction existed during WWII

** Western Strategic Direction was also known as 'Central' TVD during WWII

** Central Reserve known during WWII as the STAVKA Central Reserve

*South-Western TVD

** South-Western Strategic Direction

** Ukrainian Strategic Direction existed during WWII

Southern TVD

** Southern Strategic Direction existed during WWII

** Caucasus Strategic Direction existed during WWII

Asian Theatre

* Near-Eastern Strategic Direction

* Mid-Eastern Strategic Direction

Atlantic Ocean Theatre TVD including

* Black Sea maritime theatre

* Mediterranean Sea maritime theatre

Pacific Ocean Theatre TVD including

* Far-Eastern Strategic Direction

* Sea of Okhotsk maritime theatre

* Sea of Japan maritime theatre

* East China Sea maritime theatre

* South China Sea maritime theatre

* Philippine Sea maritime theatre

Indian Ocean Theatre TVD including

* Persian Gulf maritime theatre

In this range of TVDs, each continental and maritime TVD has established strategic and operational directions and strategic regions for force deployment.

References