Russian military to be mainly supplied with Russian-made aircraft - Putin
ULYANOVSK, Russia. Oct 4 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that preference would be given to Russian-made aircraft in equipping the armed forces and other Russian state services.
"Russia must have its own powerful aircraft-making industry - this is essential for our security and our technological sovereignty," Putin told a conference.
Aircraft manufacturing, both its civilian and its military segment, needs thorough modernization - personnel training, infrastructural renovation, and an overhaul of all the concomitant industries such as the production of materials and components, he said.
"This is why it is so important that the huge funds that we are allocating for the armament program and for the development of the defense industry complex should produce a cumulative, systemic effect and enable us to create what truly is a globally competitive aircraft industry," Putin said.
He argued that the global aircraft making industry is marked by tense competition, and that the United States alone manufactures aircraft that can rival new Russian military transport plane Ilyushin Il-476.
