MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. Russia’s Ground Forces received more than 2,500 new pieces of armament and military hardware this year, Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief Army Gen. Oleg Salyukov said.
"In order to increase combat performance and renew the equipment in 2020, military units of Russia’s Ground Forces received over 2,500 pieces of new standard weaponry, as well as military and special hardware," Salyukov said in an interview with the Defense Ministry’s Krasnaya Zverda newspaper published on Wednesday.
In his words, units of the Russian Ground Forces received advanced Buk-M3 medium-range air defense systems, Verba fourth-generation infrared homing surface-to-air missile MANPADS (man-portable air defense systems) and Tornado-S multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) - the longest-range and the most powerful MLRS weapon in the world with improved range and accuracy.
"Artillery units receive Tornado-G MLRS and Msta-SM self-propelled howitzers with a new automatic fire control system. Anti-tank units got the Khrizantema-SP anti-tank missile system with a unique capacity of penetrating the armor of all modern tanks in any weather conditions," the Ground Forces commander-in-chief said.
Reconnaissance teams received Strelets combined-arms reconnaissance systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as Taifun-K (Typhoon K) family of 4x4 light armored vehicles.
"Tank crews and motorized infantry units receive modern T-72B3M and T-80BVM tanks, BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, modernized BMP-2 vehicles with the Berezhok combat module and the BTR-82A wheeled armoured personnel carrier," the Russian general added.