MOSCOW, December 27 (AVN) - The Defence Ministry has backed the proposal to strengthen the state control over the condition of passenger and cargo aircraft owned by Russian ministries and agencies, a high-ranking official of the ministry said on Wednesday.
At the same time, the state should make sure that the ministries and agencies have possibilities to renew their air fleet, the official told the Military News Agency. "Due to the current financial situation, the Defence Ministry just has to slow down writing off outdated aircraft. I mean, primarily, the planes with overextended service life," he said.
A spokesman for the Armed Forces armament department told the Agency the army would prefer to purchase Russian planes as replacement for the ones being written off.
The proposal to strengthen the state control over aircraft condition was put up by the Ministries of Transport and Economic Development and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency.