YEKATERINBURG. Dec 11 (Interfax) - Advanced equipment in the Russian Central Military District now accounts for four times as much it did five years ago, the District's Commander Alexander Lapin said.
"Over the five years, the proportion of modern military hardware in the District has risen almost fourfold. Since the beginning of the current year alone, the fleet of various fighting vehicles has received just under 600 more units. Throughout December, we will accept in service another 250 new and upgraded types of weapons. This will enable the re-arming of two military units and five sub-units, including one within the 201st Russian military base in Tajikistan," Lapin said in an interview with the Russian Defense Ministry's Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) newspaper.
This year, the troops also learnt to operate the brand new air defense missile systems, S-400 Triumf and Buk-M3, he said.
"A testament to that were the successful live-fire drills at the Kapustin Yar training range. In December, the first air defense missile regiment re-armed with the S-400 system will be deployed to the Sverdlovsk region," Lapin said.
The Central Military District has bases in three federal districts and 29 constituent regions in Russia and several abroad: the 201st military base in Tajikistan, the joint military base in Kyrgyzstan, and several units in Kazakhstan. The District is headquartered in Yekaterinburg.