MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/. The share of modern weapons in the Russian Armed Forces is coming close to 60% and this pace allows the country to reach the planned figure of 70% by 2021, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Putin spoke at a reception given in the Kremlin in honor of the best graduates of higher military institutions.

Just six years ago, the share of modern weapons and military hardware did not exceed 16% in the Army and in the Navy, the Russian leader said.

"Today, it is close to 60% and the current pace will allow us to reach the planned figure of 70% by 2021," Putin said.

Russia’s most advanced Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic missile complex is already on experimental combat duty in the country’s Southern Military District, Putin said.

"Avangard intercontinental missile complexes will arrive for the troops shortly while Sarmat [new heavy ICBMs] will enter service in a year," Russia’s supreme commander-in-chief said, stressing that "this is just a part of modern armaments, which will make it possible to increase the Russian Army’s potential by many times."

Thanks to the huge effort by its research and design institutes and industrial enterprises, Russia has achieved a decisive breakthrough in the sphere of new armaments, Putin noted.

Workers, engineers and researchers have performed a true feat and, as was often the case in history, "did what others have failed to do so far."

"A whole number of domestic weapon systems are ahead of foreign rivals for years and, perhaps, for decades to come," the Russian president said.

Addressing the graduates of higher military institutions, the Russian leader stressed that their task was to become true professionals in the military sphere and "for this purpose, you need to fully master the tactics of command and control and learn to operate advanced military hardware and competently command personnel and always keep high the level attained during the studies to be the best and to be an example for your comrades-in-arms and for your subordinates in everything. I am confident that you are ready for that," Putin said.