Last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the merger of the country's air and space defense into a new Aerospace Force. This is the first change to Russia's armed forces structure in this new century.

This structural adjustment is a continuation of Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitious program of modernizing Russia's military arsenal. It not only aims to raise military efficiency, but also adapt to security challenges.

With the development of military theories and technologies, the Russian elite has realized the importance of merging air and space defenses in boosting efficiency. Efficiency was the key term when Putin pushed forward reforming the army when he served as president for the first and second time from 2000 to 2008. It also solved the asymmetry of the army's input and output during the era of the Soviet Union and Boris Yeltsin.

The theoretical basis of the Putin administration to reform the armies is the country's national security strategies. According to Russia's National Security Strategy to 2020, "The transition in the international system from opposing blocs to principles of multivector diplomacy, together with Russia's resource potential and pragmatic policy for its use, have broadened the possibilities for the Russian Federation to reinforce its influence on the world stage."

Russia often looks at long-term interests, whether in making Arctic claims or merging forces. The Strategy to 2020 also states that "The strategic goals related to improving national defense consist of preventing global and regional wars and conflicts, and likewise of realizing strategic deterrence in the interests of ensuring the country's military security." Since Russia was a garrison state in the past, the Russian elite attaches great importance to a stable national security environment and preventing threats from potential rivals. With rising nationalism internally, the public also wants security protection.

Currently, aerospace efforts are largely limited to the superpowers due to the high technology and cost. The establishment of Russia's Aerospace Force is not targeting domestic terrorists or its peripheral neighbors but to gain an upper hand against its future rivals in these fields.

During the Soviet era, the US and the Soviet Union went a long way in competing in astronavigation and until the Apollo moon landings the Soviets were even arguably ahead, although they then fell somewhat behind but remained an important part of global space efforts. However, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, due to lack of funding and the losses of talent, Russia fell behind the US and was even outpaced by Europe and China.

Such weakness has also been shown in the backwardness of ideas. The West has attached importance to near-earth orbit and been striving for the commanding heights of outer space. The US has initiated the Prompt Global Strike (PGS), a military effort to develop a system that can strike anywhere globally inside an hour with a conventional weapon. However, Russia's aerospace security concept failed to catch up. 

Putin witnessed the Soviet Union's fall. Therefore, since he ruled the country, he has kept the idea of avoiding backwardness as his ruling principle. Putin and his administration highly value being a "great power." Such a mentality means Putin will never allow Russia to fall behind its competitors in any field.

Russia still defines itself as an influential country globally. In its strategic calculations, only equally influential powers like the US, the EU and China can pose a threat to it. After the 2008 financial crisis, nationalism has been prevalent in Russian society. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why the Russian public thinks highly of the Aerospace Force. Some observers believe the Aerospace Force can resist the US' PGS plan, as it will establish a reliable warning system and the ability to eliminate US threats by then.

Whether Russia can fulfill its space ambitions needs the testament of time.

The author is a PhD candidate at the Center for Russian Studies, East China Normal University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn