MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. The share of new weapon systems in the Russian Army has increased by 13% since 2016 to 48% and about 5,000 advanced armaments have been delivered to the troops over that period, Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.

"About 5,000 new weapon systems have been delivered to the Army, thanks to which their share in combat units and military formations that are on constant alert has risen from 35% to 48%," Shoigu told a meeting of the Defense Ministry’s board.

Modernization has helped improve the combat characteristics of 10 weapon systems, he said.

"Five new weapon systems surpassing the best foreign analogues by their potential have been developed and delivered to the troops. These are the tank support combat vehicle, the Tornado-S large-caliber multiple launch rocket system, the Tor-M2 small-range air defense missile complex and armored Taifun-K and Taifun-U vehicles," the defense minister said.

Russia has held over 750 checks of its ground forces since 2016, including 530 surprise inspections, which has enabled it to comprehensively assess their preparedness for accomplishing assigned missions, Shoigu said.

Also, 7,698 military exercises of various levels have been held since 2016, the defense minister said.

The number of contract servicemen in the Army has increased from 90,000 to 131,000 since 2016, Shoigu noted.

"As a result, this category of servicemen has come to prevail in the troops for the first time. This has made it possible to staff the positions of junior commanders, specialists for armament and military hardware operation with professionally trained personnel," the defense minister said.