(IBT) --- Russia
is strengthening its forces on the country’s western border, and the Kremlin
will further reinforce its army in the region with more than 20 attack
helicopters by the end of 2015, Russia ’s
Western Military District announced Tuesday.
The move comes amid
growing tensions between Moscow and the West as
NATO forces step up military presence in areas close to Russia 's borders in Eastern
Europe .
“New army aircraft
are equipped with cutting-edge electronics that allow them to perform training
and combat tasks 24 hours a day in any weather conditions,” Russia ’s Sputnik News quoted Col. Oleg
Kochetkov, chief of Russia ’s
Western Military District’s press service, as saying.
The attack choppers
will include new Mi-28Ns, Mi-26Ts and Mi-8MTV5s, manufactured by the Mil Moscow
Helicopter Plant. The helicopters will be deployed in Russia ’s westernmost regions of Leningrad ,
Pskov and Smolensk ,
Sputnik News reported.
Tuesday’s
announcement followed last week’s media reports that NATO may include
about 40,000 troops in its rapid response Spearhead Force, with most
of those troops expected to be stationed in Eastern Europe .
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter also said Monday that the country
will help NATO with aircraft, weapons and forces to help it protect Europe from security threats.
Meanwhile, the
Russian Defence Ministry is also planning to upgrade the entire fleet of the
country’s Ilyushin-38 anti-submarine planes, TASS news
agency reported Tuesday, citing naval aviation commander Igor Kozhin.
“The contract is in
the discussion phase. It is impossible to name any specific figures at this
point (number of planes and dates), but the entire fleet is to undergo
upgrade,” TASS quoted Kozhin as saying.
The Ilyushin-38
maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft will be upgraded to the
Ilyushin-38N with an advanced search and target track system, called
“Novella-P-38,” Kozhin said, adding that the upgraded aircraft will be ready
for its maiden flight by 2020.
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