MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Russia has fulfilled the Armed Forces' training program planned for this year, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Monday.

The minister said 2014 has been rich in training events for the Russian military.

Shoigu recalled the snap checks in the Western, Eastern and Central Military Districts as well as two major military drills - Vostok-2014 and Russia-China Naval Interaction-2014.

“In general, the plan for training the Russian Armed Forces has been completely fulfilled,” he said.

The minister said all the military training events planned for 2015 should be conducted at a high level.

The planned events include the drills on the New Siberian Islands, Army Games international competition, Comradeship-in-Arms of the Air Force, Interaction of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force of the CSTO, Union Shield joint drills with Belarus and also Center 2015 strategic exercises.

Shoigu said snap combat readiness checks of the Russian Army should continue as well as trainings of forces at new testing areas.

“Conducting the scheduled events will contribute to increasing the combat readiness and the high quality performance of the tasks set before them,” Shoigu said.

The minister said also said the key tasks for fulfilling the state defense order for 2014 have been carried out, and armament and equipment supplies to troops have increased by 65%

Key tasks fulfilling Russia's 2014 state defense order carried out

Key tasks for fulfilling the state defense order for 2014 have been carried out, Sergey Shoigu also told.

Armament and equipment supplies to troops have increased by 65%, he said.

“Totally, the funding of the state defense order corresponded to the standards of the state arms program till 2020,” Shoigu said.

The budget allocations to research and development, and design and experimental works, to the purchase and repair of arms and equipment increased by 25% as compared with last year, he said.

Over 64% of the funding was used to buy weapon systems, Shoigu said, adding that the number of supplied arms and equipment to troops has increased by 65%.

The quality of equipment has improved due to the measures taken to increase the staff of control agencies. “In general, despite the existing problems, key tasks for fulfilling the state defense order have been carried out,” Shoigu said.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said all planed targets of the country’s state defense order for 2014 have almost fully been met.

“I am generally satisfied with what is happening in this sphere, though we see that there are some problems in it,” he said.

Russia's aerospace defense brigades restructured into air defense squadrons

Shoigu also said the Russian Air Force has completed restructuring aerospace defense brigades into air defense squadrons.

He recalled that the specific decision was taken in the middle of the previous year.

“These changes seek to make the Air Force command more effective and improve the quality of daily activities and planning of troops’ combat action,” Shoigu said at a telecom conference with the leadership of the country’s armed forces.

As for facilities to store aircraft, the minister noted that military airfields should be provided with aircraft sheds to synchronize aircraft delivery with construction of the required infrastructure. “This measure will allow keeping aircraft in a good operating order and storing them properly in any climatic zone,” Shoigu added.

In 2009-2012, according to plans approved by former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, the country’s Air Force shifted from air divisions and regiments to airbases and air groupings and at the same time restructured air defense squadrons and corps into brigades of Aerospace Defense Forces.