Foreign Military Hardware Should Give Russia Technology - PM

The Mistral class amphibious assault ship

MOSCOW, February 20 (RIA Novosti)

Purchases of military hardware abroad should not replace Russia’s own armament production, Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin wrote in a new article, published in the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government daily.

“Studying the experience and tendencies of other countries does not mean Russia will switch over to borrowed models and stop counting on its own forces,” Putin said in the article, which focuses on defense and national security.

“On the contrary, for a stable social and economic development and in order to ensure state security, we, while adopting all the best, need to boost and maintain Russia’s military-technological and scientific independence,” he said.

One of Russia’s recent deals to buy foreign military hardware was with France. The two countries signed a $1.7 billion contract on two French-built Mistral class amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy, which includes the transfer of sensitive technology, in June 2011. The helicopter carriers are due to enter service with the Northern and Pacific fleets in 2014 and 2015.

A Mistral-class ship is capable of carrying 16 helicopters, four landing vessels, 70 armored vehicles, and 450 personnel.

Navy Commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said on February 16 that the Mistrals built in France for the Russian Navy will be equipped with Russian-made weaponry.