Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says Russia needs to replace its Soviet-built arsenals with modern weapons to counter new evolving threats.
Putin, who is running to reclaim the presidency in March 4 election, laid out his vision of military modernization in an article published Monday in the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Putin said that the government plans on spending about 23 trilliion rubles (about $770 billion dollars) over the next decade to purchase more than 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles, more than 600 combat aircraft, dozens of submarines and other navy vessels and thousands of armored vehicles.
He said that Russia will respond to the planned U.S. missile shield by developing weapons capable of penetrating it, adding that “there can’t be too much patriotism” on the issue.
