LIPETSK, August 12. /ITAR-TASS/. Some 200 new aircraft and helicopters will be supplied to the Russian Air Force this year, Air Force chief Viktor Bondarev told reporters on Tuesday. He noted that the amount of new equipment to be added to its arsenal in the next two or three years compares to what the Air Force has received in the past two decades.

"We'll get more than 200 aircraft and helicopters this year, in addition to ongoing profound modernization," Bondarev said. On Tuesday, Russia's Air Force marked the 102nd anniversary of its establishment.

Earlier, Russia's First Deputy Defense Minister Arkady Bakhin said more than 260 new aircraft would be supplied to the Air Force in 2014, while Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said it would have more than 230 models of aircraft equipment in service.

The Air Force chief reminded that Russian pilots, in the course of the Aviadarts competition, showed to the whole world that they were the best.

Speaking about the Strizhi, Russkiye Vityazi and Sokoly Rossii aerobatic teams, Bondarev said the pilots would start flying new fighters as soon as the operating life of older planes expired.

"As soon as the operating life expires, we'll have them fly new ones, perhaps T-50s," Bondarev said. " Admittedly, it's very expensive, so we'll keep operating the available planes for another five to ten years, as long as we have this opportunity.