MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian military is getting a total of 67 new combat aircraft this year, an official from the United Aircraft Corporation said Wednesday.
“Sixty-seven new aircraft were slated to be delivered in 2013, and they will all be delivered,” Vladimir Mikhailov, director of military aviation programs at the UAC, said at a roundtable conference on state defense contracts hosted by RIA Novosti.
“The remaining 16 planes will be supplied in December,” Mikhailov said.
The official said the UAC had signed contracts for the purchase of more than 400 combat aircraft for the Russian armed forces under the state rearmament program until the year 2020.
“The annual deliveries will significantly increase year-on-year,” he said.
Russia is currently implementing an ambitious 20 trillion ruble ($640 billion) rearmament program planned to run until 2020.
The program will see the share of modern weaponry in Russia’s armed forces reach 30 percent by 2015 and 70 percent by 2020.
The UAC consolidates Russian private and state-owned aircraft-manufacturing companies engaged in the development, production and sales of military, civilian, transport aircraft.
The Russian government owns a majority stake in the company.
