Putin: Russian military will receive 1,600 new warplanes, helicopters

“We are talking primarily about providing our forces with state-of-the-art modern technology,” he said at an air show on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Air Force on Saturday.

Putin thanked Air Force officers, veterans, and industry workers who “helped our aviation endure the very difficult times of the 1990s and early 2000s.”

Six hundred military planes and 1,000 helicopters will be added to the Russian fleet as part of a plan to spend $720 billion by 2020 to re-equip a military, weakened by spending cuts since the collapse of the Soviet Union in early 1990s.

Putin, who began a new six-year presidential term in May, said that in addition to the new planes and helicopters, existing military aircraft would be “modernized.”

    Since elected as president for the first time in 2000, Putin has sought to restore pride in the Cold War-era superpower’s Armed Forces.

Putin said in his presidential campaign that Russia needed a more powerful military to defend itself against attempts to stir up conflicts around its borders.