Article Posted on : - May 01, 2010

Russian T-90 tank

MOSCOW (BNS): All obsolete weaponry in Moscow Military District has been removed as part of Russia's transition to a ‘new-look’ Armed Forces, according to the district commander.

Col. Gen. Valery Gerasimov told Ekho Moskvy radio that all old weapons and military equipment was discarded and the bases under his command now had only modern military equipment.

"In the course of the transition to a new look, we got rid of all the old equipment at bases and in factories," Ria Novosti quoted him as saying.

"The materiel was kept at the bases of the military (district) and declared ready for operational use."

"In fact, as it turned out, this was not true," Gerasimov said, adding that some of the military hardware had been at the bases for 20 or 30 years without moving.

"We have checked it all and left the army with only modern weaponry, while all the junk has been cleared away," the commander said.

"The troops are left with modern equipment, such as T-90 tanks, BMP-3 (armored personnel carriers) and advanced artillery systems.

President Dmitry Medvedev, the commander in chief of the Russian Armed Forces, had earlier said that obsolete equipment was one of the three main problems facing the military. The military would be completely rearmed by 2020, he added.