Russia to buy 20 nuclear submarines by 2020: general staff chief

Πηγή: People's Daily
By Xinhua
Feb 15 2012

MOSCOW, Feb. 14 -- Russia would purchase a total of 20 nuclear submarinesby 2020, Russian Chief of the General Staff Nikolai Makarov said Tuesday.

The purchase of 16 nuclear submarines of Borei and Yasen classes has beenenvisaged in the Russian state rearmament program, but now the Defense Ministryplanned to buy four more submarines, Makarov told a press conference.

"If such an opportunity appears, we will order two couples of Borei 955 and Yasen 855submarines additionally," Makarov said.

He stressed that upgrading strategic nuclear forces was the priority of the country'srearmament program until 2020.

Makarov also said the Defense Ministry would not buy any new armored vehicles in thenext five years, but would test its first combat drone in 2012.

Russia's military spending has increased because of the government's rearmamentprogram launched in 2008, which envisages an allocation of 20 trillion rubles (720billion U.S. dollars) until 2020.