SOCHI, May 27. /TASS/: The modern Russian Army must be compact, but display efficiency, Russian President Vladimir Putin believes. To achieve that goal, Russia must develop its military transport aviation, he says.
"I reiterate that, for our country, with its huge territory, the largest territory in the world, this [development of the military transport aviation] has special importance, so that our army can stay compact, as we always say, but efficient. This is also important for successful landing operations," the head of said during a meeting on defense.
The president also mentioned that "the Russian Armed Forces need a larger number of military transport planes and helicopters and measures must be taken to build up their production".
"Currently, the trials of the Il-112V light military transport aircraft are nearing completion and the delivery of two such planes is planned this year. Work is underway to resume the output of Il-76 military transport aircraft on a new technological basis and five serial-produced Il-76MD-90A planes will be delivered to the troops by the end of the year," the Russian president said.
"At the same time, proceeding from the data provided, the Defense Ministry needs a far greater number of military transport planes and helicopters," Putin stressed.
"Let us discuss today how to efficiently solve this task and define measures for building up the production and modernization of military transport aviation," the Russian leader said.
Putin has added that "the Russian Army and Navy must be sufficiently provided with advanced long-range precision weapons".
"The analysis of military conflicts of the past few decades and the experience of the development of the world’s leading armies underscore the growing role of the efficient employment of, say, cruise missiles of various basing and also guided munitions," the head of state claimed.
In Putin’s opinion, "it is important to ensure that our Army and Navy are sufficiently outfitted with such advanced precision weapons".
In the coming years, "It is important to keep the required pace of producing advanced strike systems for the purposes of their employment and testing in the course of intensive combat training," Putin highlighted.
