SOCHI, May 17. /TASS/. The new state armament program for 2018-2025 will boost the combat potential of the Russian Armed Forces, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"This program will become the most important instrument in implementing Russia’s military and technical policy in the sphere of defense and security through 2025 and for a further perspective," the Russian president said at a meeting on drafting a program of arming the Russian Armed Forces through 2025.

"The new program is called upon to provide for a balanced development of armament systems of all armed services and branches and gradually equipping units and formations with them. This will help to boost considerably the combat potential of the Armed Forces and ensure the fulfillment of responsible tasks stipulated by the military doctrine and the national security strategy and by some other most important documents," Putin said.

According to the Russian president, the planned measures will help both arm the Army and the Navy with modern weapon systems and military hardware and give a possibility to lay the groundwork for developing principally new types of weapons.

In the process of drafting and implementing the new state armament program, "attention should be paid to the fact that the plans that have been mapped out will be implemented in the conditions of import substitution," Putin said.

As the Russian president stressed, the corresponding program is being actively implemented.

The Russian leader said that "good results have been achieved" in the course of implementing the import substitution program but much more had to be done.

"I mean the development of the domestic electronic components base, the implementation of contracts involving the full life cycle of military products and the synchronization of the timeframes of preparing the necessary infrastructure and delivering new armaments," the Russian president said.

Share of modern weaponry in ground forces to reach 42% this year

By the end of this year the share of modern weapons in Russia’s ground forces is to reach 42% and in the airborne forces, 58%, Putin said.

"In the previewed program period it is important to not only build up this parameter, but also to lend a new quality to the system of general purpose weapons," the Russian leader added.

These tasks would depend directly on the capabilities of the defense-industrial complex.

Putin believes that it is essential to evaluate the industrial and technical capabilities of Russian industries, including the potential for their further development. At the conference, reports were to be made by the commander of ground forces and the commander of airborne troops, while the chiefs of integrated structures and organizations of the defense-industrial complex were to brief those present on the problems related with the implementation of the identified measures. Also, the conference will look into the condition of ground forces and airborne troops and the outlook for their development in conjunction with the state program for armaments extending till 2025.