More news from Sochi today, also directly relating to Syria. The President continued the series of meetings with the military and reps of the defense industry. The topic of discussion was the fulfillment of defense contracts and supplying the Army with the latest weaponry, including the units that had already proved their effectiveness in the Middle East.
My colleague Dmitry Petrov reports on what the new Russian weapons are capable of.
State defense contracts are fulfilled strictly according to an approved schedule, and the arms that are supplied to the troops immediately undergo real-combat testing in Syria. In a meeting with the defense industry representatives and heads of the Ministry of Defense, the President summed up the preliminary results for the year.
3 400 of the newest and modernized military units of major categories are already allocated to the troops. They include 16 battleships, 190 modern planes and helicopters, 800 tanks, 170 air defense systems and complexes, 1950 multi-purpose vehicles.
Putin: These measures will allow us to bring the share of modern weaponry and equipment in areas of constant combat readiness, by the end of 2017, to nearly 60%. I'll note that many of the weapons systems have undergone effectiveness testing during anti-terrorist combat operations in the Syrian Arab Republic. Use in real combat situations confirmed the high quality standards of Russian weaponry. Its traditional advantages continue to be ease of use and dependability.
Just now, the Army Aviation Staff Combat and Conversion Training Center number 344, located in Torzhok, received the first production-line of Mi-28UB's from the plant in Rostov-on-Don. They're the latest version of the attack helicopter. Overall, before the end of next year, the plan is to supply the Air Force with 24 rotary-wing machines.
Modernizing the weaponry and military equipment allows for training and improve skills equally in detachments staffed with active-duty personnel, as well as amongst contract forces. Here, we see roadway engineering troops undergo a verification test, practicing a performance objective of installing an antitank mine obstacle along the main line of defense.
Soldier: We waited for the temperature to drop and for the snow to come in, in order to slightly complicate the performance objectives.
This year the construction of 6 military airfields in the Arctic have been planned. A new airbase is under construction in Rogachevo, on the Kotelny island and on the Mys Shmidta, the runways are being widened. Tiksi will host front-line aircraft and MiG-31 interceptors. Moreover, interceptors will also be based in Anadyr.
Putin: We need to carefully study and use the practical experience of application of our arms systems, and of course, we need to secure the positive patterns of planning, allocating, and fulfilling state defense contracts. To strive for all links of this inter-connected system to work effectively and in unison.
The power and effectiveness of Russian weaponry are more and more recognized. The President noted that a number of our international partners have already expressed interest in purchasing domestic arms and equipment, and in widening their military-technical collaboration with Russia.
Dmirty Petrov, Oleg Makarov, and Kirill Oksenov, Vesti, Sochi.
