MOSCOW, May 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's spending on arms development and purchases will rise 27% year-on-year in 2007, senior defense official said Thursday.
Vladislav Putilin, first deputy head of the defense committee established in March to improve monitoring of budget spending on the defense sector, said: "State defense orders have risen. Spending on development and purchases of armaments and military equipment will be increased 27% in 2007 compared to this year."
Putilin said funds to be allocated for purchases would climb 22%, and allocations for repairs would be up 15%. He said spending on research, design, and tests would decline slightly, but did not specify figures.
He also said the strategic nuclear forces and permanent combat duty units remained priorities in terms of financing.
The 27-percent increase in defense spending represents a departure from figures released May 6, when Putilin said state defense orders would rise by 20% to 303.7 bln rubles ($11.2 bln) in 2007.
In his state of the nation address on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin highlighted the role of the strategic nuclear forces in repelling potential external threats and international terrorists, saying that the nuclear triad would be substantially strengthened over the next five years.
"We should always be ready to repel a potential external aggressor and international terrorist attacks, and should be able to respond to any attempt to exert foreign policy pressure on Russia," Putin said.
The president said two strategic nuclear submarines would be commissioned in 2006, and urged a significant increase in purchases of modern aircraft, submarines, and strategic missiles for the Armed Forces.
Putilin said the state armaments program for 2007-2015 would be discussed at the June 2 session of the committee, which is headed by Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov.
