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Putin: Defense Ministry allocates $24 billion for state defense order 2018

Most of the contracts have been concluded, the president said

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

SOCHI, May 17. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry has disbursed 1.5 trillion rubles ($24 billion) for the state defense order this year, President Vladimir Putin said in his opening remarks at another meeting with the top officials of the Defense Ministry and defense industrial complex enterprises on Thursday.

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"In 2018 the Defense Ministry allocated nearly 1.5 trillion rubles for the state defense order. This is a very impressive sum. The resources must be used in the most rational way. Most of the contracts have been concluded," he said.

Under these contracts Russia’s armed forces would obtain 160 aircraft, 10 surface ships and 14 space systems. The general purpose forces will acquire 500 missile and artillery systems installed on tanks and other armored vehicles.

As before, the most serious attention will be paid to the aerospace forces. In particular, this concerns aircraft and air defense systems and navigation and intelligence equipment.

"Aviation units are to receive new tactical planes Sukhoi-34, Sukhoi-35S and Sukhoi-30S and also helicopter gunships Mi-28, Mi-35M and Ka-52," Putin said. "Air defense forces will continue to be armed with the newest systems S-400 and Pantsir-S."

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