Russian ground forces to be armed with modern arms before 2020

Russian Defense Ministry plans to purchase more than 11 million units of new armored vehicles, as well as about 14,000 military vehicles, to equip ground troops with modern weapons on the level of 70 percent before 2020, the commander of the ground troops of the Russian Federation, Colonel General Oleg Salyukov told reporters Wednesday, RIA Novosti reports.

"In accordance with the decision of the Supreme Commander, before 2020, the ground troops will be equipped with new modern weapons and military equipment on the level of 70 percent. In total, it is planned to buy more than 5,000 new and about 6,000 upgraded samples of armored military vehicles, as well as about 14,000 military vehicles," he said.

According to Salyukov, the ground forces of the Russian Federation will receive modernized tanks T-72B3, which demonstrated excellent performance during tank biathlon competitions, as well as BTR-82A, armored vehicles BMP-3 and upgraded BMP-2.

In addition, the ground forces commander recalled that the Defense Ministry resumed the acquisition of infantry fighting vehicle BMP-3, which fell under the criticism of the previous administration of the Defense Ministry in 2010: "The purchase of BMP-3 has been resumed, and starting from next year, it is planned to supply the vehicles for battalions of the ground forces," the official said.

Before the end of 2015, the Russian Ground Forces will receive three brigade sets of operational-tactical missile system Iskander, said Salyukov. One of them will be delivered to the missile formation of the Central Military District until the end of this year. The other two will be shipped to missile formations of Southern and Eastern military districts in 2015, the official said.

The commander also said that "at the moment, according to long-term government contracts, the troops have already received four brigade sets of Iskander missile complex." Thus, in 2015, the Russian army will have seven brigades armed with Iskander systems.

Iskander is one of the most powerful strike systems of the ground forces of Russia. The system is capable of striking various targets - from enemy troops to underground command centers. If necessary, Iskander missiles can carry nuclear warheads.

The tests of the complex were completed in 2007. Iskander-M and Iskander-K versions of the system were put into service at the Russian army; the export version, Iskander-E, is equipped with one missile instead of two.