Article Posted on : - Feb 02, 2015

MOSCOW (AP): The chief of Russia's General Staff says the military will receive 50 intercontinental ballistic missiles this year, maintaining a high tempo of modernization despite the nation's economic downturn.

Gen Valery Gerasimov's statement Friday comes amid spiraling Russia-West tensions over Ukraine, where fighting between pro-Russia rebels and government forces flared up anew this month after a period of relative calm.

Gerasimov said weapons modernization should prevent the US and NATO from achieving military superiority over Russia.

He said the development of strategic nuclear forces is the top priority, adding that Russia will counter NATO's US-led missile defence system by deploying weapons capable of penetrating the shield.

Gerasimov said that Russia is also developing long-range precision conventional weapons in response to the US Prompt Global Strike programme.