Defense industry of Russia in the II quarter of 2017 supplied the Armed Forces with more than 60 cruise missiles of the "Caliber" type, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday at the bottom of the military acceptance (selector conference of military and industry). According to him, during this period the troops also received a set of Iskander-M operational-tactical missiles, 11 aircraft, six helicopters, one corvette and nine radars, which was necessary for the armament of the missile brigade.

As explained by Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov, the Caliber missiles are supplied in the interests of the fleet, as are the two multi-purpose Su-30SM fighters. Also during this period the army received 35 new and 155 repaired samples of armored combat vehicles and tanks, 10 new self-propelled artillery units, 500 new and 273 repaired vehicles.

 Shoigu's pace of production of "Caliber" rockets should be recognized as high, says Viktor Murakhovsky, editor of the magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland. This can be explained by the fact that it is these ship-based missiles that form the basis of the non-nuclear forces of strategic deterrence, the plans for the creation of which the Defense Minister and other representatives of the military leadership have repeatedly stated in the coming years, the expert adds. Caliber rockets along with cruise air-launched missiles were used in Syria from various carriers, in all, more than 100 cruise missiles of various types were used.

The presence of non-nuclear forces of strategic deterrence makes it possible to reduce risks of nuclear escalation, therefore the idea of their creation looks attractive, explains the man close to the Defense Ministry. According to him, the US has long had thousands of cruise missiles (the April attack on the Syrian airfield was inflicted with 59 missiles), there are missiles of this type from China, South Korea and some US allies. In addition - more importantly for Russia - long-range cruise missiles of American production are already equipped with tactical air force planes bordering with Russia countries like Poland and Finland and the Russian Armed Forces should react to this, the interlocutor emphasizes.

Following the meeting on rearmament, the Ministry of Defense held a panel at which the issue of ensuring military security in the south-western strategic direction was discussed. According to Shoigu, in the conditions of the deployment of the US Air Force and the United Kingdom and other military activities of NATO in the Black Sea in Romania, "Russia is forced to take symmetrical measures" and one of the important steps was the formation of a combined-arms [eighth] army in the Southern Military District in March 2017. Capital construction in the Southern District and in the Arctic is now a priority, says a man close to the Ministry of Defense.