Weapons upgrading - next stage of army reform

The Chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, General of the Army Anatoly Kvashnin began Tuesday his scheduled trip across the Far Eastern military district and to the Pacific Fleet.

Kvashnin told journalists at the airport that the objective of his trip was to check the state of the armed forces deployed in the Far East and plans of their development. In addition, he plans to check thoroughly the navy.

While talking to presidential envoy Konstantin Pulikovsky and Krasnoyarsk Territory Governor Viktor Ishayev, General Kvashnin noted that the Russian Armed Forces' condition is complicated, some of their needs are not met appropriately. Kvashnin added that "no further structural changes and significant redundancies are planned in the Armed Forces." The general pointed out that the next stage of the reform was upgrading of weapons and materiel. According to him, qualitative re-equipment requires meeting the needs of the defence complex.