MOSCOW. June 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The Ratnik kit for a soldier of the future will start entering use in the Russian army in the fourth quarter of 2014, said Oleg Bochkaryov, Deputy Chairman of the Russian government's Military Industrial Commission.
"The state tests will be completed this summer, with the first kits to start entering service in the fourth quarter," he said on the Russian News Service last Saturday.
In 2015, Ratnik kits will be supplied in adequate quantitities, Bochkaryov added.
He said more than 150 elements of the kit, including automatic rifles, are currently being tested. Kalashnikov Concern and Degtyarev Plant have offered their models of automatic rifles. Both are suitable for the Defense Ministry. "Now there will be an important moment for everyone: to choose a single model of weapon," the commission's deputy chairman said.
Bochkaryov also said that a new kit will be designed in 2015 to replace the Ratnik in 2017. So far it has been dubbed Ratnik-3.