MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Land Forces are not planning to commission new types of weapons and hardware before 2010, Land Forces Commander and Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Kormiltsev said on Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, we are unable to purchase new types of armament and I do not think it will be possible before 2010. They cost a fortune that the state does not have at the moment," Kormiltsev told a news conference.
According to the commander, the Land Forces will concentrate on modernization and repair of hardware and weapons in their inventory. "The equipment that our units have is not inferior to foreign analogies and even surpasses them in some parameters," he stressed.
"Our primary goal is to install new, more advanced systems of control and communication on the weapons and hardware," Kormiltsev said.
Speaking about funding issues, the commander said "the Defense Ministry board considered on Tuesday the main parameters of the 2002 military budget, where the Land Forces have the share of 28 percent."
"The personnel of the Land Forces make 40 percent of the total strength of the Russian Armed Forces, and that is why we even 50 percent," Kormiltsev stressed.