Moscow Military District dumps all obsolete weaponry - Col. Gen. Valery Gerasimov

All old weapons and military equipment have been removed from the Moscow Military District as part of Russia's transition to a "new-look" Armed Forces, the district commander said on Saturday.Col. Gen. Valery Gerasimov said on Ekho Moskvy radio that 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," he said. "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. Some of it will take part in this year's Victory Day parade in Moscow," Gerasimov said.

President Dmitry Medvedev, the commander in chief of the Russian Armed Forces, said in December last year that obsolete equipment was one of the three main problems facing the military, along with low wages and poor organization.He said the military would be completely rearmed by 2020.

RIA Novosti

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