A new state arms procurement program for 2011-2020 will be adopted by the Russian government and signed by the president this fall, a deputy prime minister said on Tuesday.
“The deadline is the third quarter of this year,” Sergei Ivanov told reporters in Moscow.
The draft program stipulates the upgrade of up to 11% of military equipment annually and will allow Russia to increase the share of modern weaponry to 70% by 2020.
Ivanov said the Defense Ministry and all security-related bodies are expected to submit the lists of all necessary armaments within a week to allow the defense industry enterprises to plan their work with an optimal output for the next decade.
According to the draft program, the Russian Armed Forces should receive, in particular, more than 1,500 combat aircraft and about 200 air defense systems by 2020.
Ivanov earlier asked President Dmitry Medvedev to authorize the increase of financing for the defense industry by 100 billion rubles ($3.4 bln) annually to ensure the efficient implementation of the program until 2020.
The Russian military is expected to receive 27 combat jets, over 50 helicopters and five battalions of S-400 air defense systems in 2010 under the current arms procurement program.
