Army received over 6,500 items of new, upgraded weaponry in 2019 - Shoigu
MOSCOW. Dec 24 (Interfax) - The Russian Defense Ministry has received over 6,500 items of new and upgraded weaponry this year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
"The delivery of over 6,500 items of new and upgraded weaponry to our troops helped increase the proportion of modern weapons to 68.2%," Shoigu said at an annual meeting of the Defense Ministry board on Tuesday.
"The rate of modernity within our Strategic Missile Forces exceeds 76%, and for the nuclear triad the figure is 82%," Shoigu said.
All tasks under defense contracts for this year have been accomplished; the delivery of military hardware was at its highest level in four years, he said.
"The branches and services of our Armed Forces this year received 624 battle tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 143 modern aircraft and helicopters, 13 spacecraft, one submarine, eight ships, 17 motor boats and logistics vessels, four Bal and Bastion combined coastal-defense systems, and over 10,000 items of modern communications equipment," Shoigu said.
Five ships' keels were laid down this year and another eight will be next year, he said.
"We are now deciding how to cut times for their construction and fitting them with high-precision weapons, including Tsirkon hypersonic missiles," Shoigu said.