- MOSCOW (UPI) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a military modernization
program that will see the introduction of advanced weapons by 2010, a senior
official said Thursday.
Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said the plan calls for the introduction
of new "fifth-generation fighter jets, a new combat helicopter, tanks,
armored vehicles, new warships and submarines."
Without revealing exact dates or production targets, Klebanov said certain
advanced weapons would be delivered to the armed forces by 2010, while
others would take longer to develop before eventually reaching the military.
According to the well-informed Kommersant business daily, spending of some
2.1 trillion rubles (around $70 billion) is envisioned for the plan, with
almost half the financing coming from arms exports.
Just a day earlier, Russia's newly appointed air force chief Col.-Gen.
Vladimir Mikhailov said strategic bombers would be upgraded to carry new
precision-guided missiles.
Mikhailov's predecessor, Gen. Anatoly Kornukov, who is retiring, told Russian
news agencies he had signed an order to begin production of top-quality
precision weapons for the strategic air forces.
Military experts believe the new so-called smart missile, classified as
the X-101, is in essence an air-to-surface cruise missile with an upgraded
automatic guidance system.
Kornukov also said the new, long-range S-400 Triumph air defense missile
would enter production by 2003.
Unlike Russia's S-300 missile system, the new missile will be able to shoot
down stealth-capability aircraft as well as missile warheads on final approach.
The armed forces, which have been starved of investment for a decade, had
demanded a sharp increase in spending on a much-needed modernization program
to replace obsolete Soviet-era weapons, but it is unclear if the plan will
ever be implemented in full.
Russia has significantly stepped up its arms exports effort, signing major
contracts for weapons delivery to such customers as China and India, and
scoring sales in markets that had been all but abandoned since the collapse
of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Last year, Russia's arms exports jumped by 20 percent, reaching a value
of $4.4 billion, official figures show. The proven ability of Russia's
vast military-industrial complex to produce quality armaments and earn
ever-increasing profits is now seen by Russia's generals and admirals as
an encouraging sign that the new modernization plan may become more than
just a wish list as the profits are plowed back into research and development
of once-frozen projects.
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