MOSCOW – Russia President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday the share of modern weaponry in Russia’s armed forces would reach 30 percent in 2014 and urged the military to stay alert for threats and challenges.

The armed forces would receive more than 40 inter-continental ballistic missiles, 210 warplanes and helicopters, and more than 250 armored vehicles in a year, Putin said at an expanded meeting of the Defense Ministry Board.

In addition, six military satellites would be launched and two new strategic submarines would be put on duty, he said.

The president said persisting armed confrontations in some Middle East countries, as well as the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan in 2014, could create a sizable “area of instability” in the adjoining Central Asian countries, posing direct threats to Russia.He also mentioned U.S. plans to build a missile defense network, “including its European segment.”

“I have to say that the military deterrence factor still plays a rather weighty role,” the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.Moscow has opposed the deployment of U.S.-led European missile defense facilities near its border, and has called for legally binding guarantees from Washington and NATO that the missile shield will not target Russia. (Xinhua)