The share of modern weaponry in the Russian Armed Forces must be brought up to at least 30% by 2015, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.
"By 2015 the share of advanced weaponry in permanent readiness units must reach at least 30%," Medvedev said at a meeting on the budget for Russian military and security agencies.
"We must make investments in the modernization of the Armed Forces a priority," he added.
The president said that if forecasts that Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow 3-6% annually from 2011 hold true, the government could allocate a set percentage of GDP every year to finance the development of the military.
Medvedev said the imbalance between spending on maintenance of old equipment and spending on new purchases (currently about 50/50) must be addressed.
"In the future, the ratio must be 30% to 70%, respectively," he said.
In line with ongoing military reforms, the Russian Armed Forces will be downsized to 1 million personnel by 2016, enlisting 150,000 officers and about 745,000 soldiers.
The organizational structure of the military will be streamlined to meet the standards of modern warfare, based on mobility and the use of advanced weaponry.
GORKI (Moscow region), May 24 (RIA Novosti)
