Russia to Face 'Certain Difficulties' in Arms Purchases in 2015

Russia will have to overcome obstacles caused by import substitutions, since the share of imported parts constitutes 10 percent.

MOSCOW, January 13 (Sputnik) – The Russian Defense Ministry has hit “certain difficulties” in its overambitious plans for arms purchases in 2015 due to import substitutions, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said Tuesday.

“I won’t hide the fact that we will run into certain difficulties because the share of imported parts for arms and military equipment stand on average at 8-10 percent,” Borisov said.

“The volume of state arms purchases for 2015 are higher than those for 2014 by approximately 20 percent,” Borisov told journalists.

Borisov expressed hopes that "equipment of advanced weapons will be at least 30 percent in all types and sorts of troops." According to him, 40 percent of Aerospace Defense troops, the Russian Navy and the Strategic Missile Forces are already equipped with those weapons.

"In general-purpose forces we have 26 percent of advanced weapons, about 28 percent – in the Air Force," Borisov said. According to Borisov, these factors will be improved in 2015.

Following Russia's reunification with Crimea, the West introduced several rounds of sanctions against Moscow, directed towards weakening Russia's economy and defense industry. Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko also banned Kiev's cooperation of military-industrial resources with Moscow. Russia began a program to eliminate dependency on military imports. Last month, a senior Russian Defense Ministry Official told President Vladimir Putin that the plan for replacing foreign-made arms used by Russian military was complete.

Russia’s new 2016-2025 state arms program does not suggest a full rearming of the military with new equipment, but only at 70 percent, Yuri Borisov added.

“The first five-year plan…will have the goal of reaching the 70-percent level of likely models of arms and military equipment by 2020, and we will continue this course up to 2025," he said.

The new state arms program is still being developed and will be submitted to the president by the end of the year, the deputy minister added.

Russia's military is currently undergoing major reforms introduced in 2008, which stipulate an ambitious 20 trillion ruble ($331 billion) rearmament program.

The share of new equipment in Russia’s Armed Forces is at an average just under 30 percent, though this exceeds 40 percent in certain branches, such as the Aerospace Defense Forces, the Navy, and the Strategic Missile Forces. The figure stands at 26 percent in the conventional armed forces and 28 percent in the Air Force.