Defense Minister Pavel Grachev said Tuesday that Russia's military should be restructured to comprise the customary three major armed forces -- Army, Navy and Air Force -- rather than the current five, Interfax reported.


In an interview with Interfax, Grachev said that after the year 2000, the air defense troops and the Strategic Missile Forces should both be reintegrated into the air force.


The proposal, though it meets with some opposition from within the ranks of the military, fits into the army's general downsizing and the diminishing importance of the country's nuclear forces, which are being reduced by treaty. Defense Ministry spokesmen declined to elaborate on Grachev's comments Tuesday.


An unnamed military source told Interfax that the consolidation was to take place in two phases, first incorporating the air defense forces and then the Strategic Rocket Forces into the air force. Tactical weapons and naval-based strategic weapons would not be included in the reorganization, according to the plan.


The source told Interfax that the new structure should reduce costs, but that it had raised the anger of military generals, the bloated upper echelon of leaders who see their fortunes falling as military budgets -- and the size of the military itself -- contract.


Military analysts here and abroad saw difficulties in the plan, not the least of which was the potential cost.


"It may be intended in the long term to make a more rational cost structure, but in the short term, the restructuring itself is very costly," said Roy Allison, head of the Russian and CIS Program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in England.


A Russian commentator on military affairs, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said although these reform plans have long been in the works, Grachev may no longer have the clout to carry them out "His position, standing and prestige are very much undermined. Grachev is just expressing his own opinion."