Russian Cabinet Approves Defense Industry Reform ProgramThe Russian government on Friday approved a program to reform and develop the national defense industry during the next five years, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov announced.The program will be implemented as of Saturday, but the designers of the program are expected to incorporate critical remarks within one month, said Klebanov, who is in charge of Russia's arms production and sales. Under the program, industrial structures for arms production will be built in Russia during the period of 2001-2004. During the second stage from 2005-2006, the defense complex enterprises will merge to form larger ones, he said. The integration may take place by uniting such enterprises as MIG, Tupolev, Kamov, or Sukhoi, Ilyushin, and Mil, he added. In Europe, an example of such integration is the European aerospace corporation, which includes aviation companies from France, Germany and Spain, while the U.S example is the Boeing Company. At the meeting, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said the country would concentrate all the money and technologies on developing advanced defense hardware and high-tech civilian products. The national defense industry should make good use of its reserves and resources, and defense factories are encouraged to produce new weapons and more civilian goods, Kasyanov said. |
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