MOSCOW, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russia will maintain its pace of building up the armed forces for stronger combat power, Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Tuesday.
"This will reliably ensure the military security of the Russian Federation and defend national interests in the regions of the world, which are strategically important to Russia," Gerasimov told a meeting of senior defense ministry officials.
The armed forces over the last five years have been focused on maintaining a high level of combat readiness of strategic nuclear and non-nuclear forces and building up aerospace defense, Gerasimov said.
In this period, ground, air and sea-based strategic nuclear forces received more than 300 new models of weapons and military equipment, while the share of modern weapons in these forces rose to 74 percent, he said.
The share of modern weapons in the Strategic Missile Force has jumped to 66 percent from 42 percent and the ability to overcome missile defense systems has increased by 30 percent.
Non-nuclear deterrence forces have also been developed at a fast pace, and in the last five years they have been equipped with high precision long-range weapons.
As a result, the number of land, sea and air based missile carriers has increased by more than 12 times, and those of high-precision cruise missiles by more than 30 times, Gerasimov said.
The air and space defense of the country has been brought to a new qualitative stage. During the five-year period, 55 new military spacecraft have been launched, Gerasimov said.
In general, the share of modern weapons in the Air and Space Forces has reached 72.8 percent, including 72 percent in the air force, 68 percent in the Air Defense Force and 81 percent in the Space Force, he said.
The Ground Forces received over 10,000 modern weapons and equipment, including 3,000 tanks and armored combat vehicles, with the share of modern weapons of the Ground Forces increasing to 44.7 percent from 15 percent.
Futhermore, the Russian Navy conducted 672 missions in various parts of the world in the last five years, including annual joint naval exercises with foreign states, he added.
