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Russia to boost naval presence, says Medvedev

SINGAPORE: Russia is to build up its navy over the coming decade, President Dmitry Medvedev announced on Monday, as he visited a Russian guided missile cruiser in Singapore.

Speaking to sailors on board the Russian Pacific Fleet’s Varyag, Medvedev said around half of Russia’s military hardware would have to be renewed by 2020. “Yes, an expansion of our naval presence is planned. Russia can only consider itself a full naval power if it has a full fleet that carries out training and combat tasks,” he said, according to official Russian news agencies. The Varyag, built in the 1980s under the Soviet Union, is on a week-long port call in Singapore.

Russia is carrying out a far-reaching reform of its armed forces - vehemently opposed in some quarters of the military - in a bid to make its forces more suited to the demands of modern warfare. The government is hoping that much of its ageing Soviet-era military hardware will be renewed. By 2020 the main branches of the armed forces “must be rearmed by 30-50 percent and in some - I will not specify - 80-90 percent”, Medvedev said. “The task must be fulfilled otherwise we will be unable to say that we have an effective army and navy,” he said, describing the current situation with procurement as “not ideal” but better than in the 1990s. afp

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