MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces added 38 new intercontinental ballistic missiles to their tables of equipment this year, including 22 submarine-based missiles, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Friday at an expanded session of the Defense Ministry's Board.

The percentage of upgraded armaments in the Armed Forces has thus reached 56%, he said. The Strategic Missile Troops now have three new regiments operating Yars missile complexes.

By the end of December, the Navy will have three strategic nuclear-powered submarines of the Borei class. The first of them, the Yuri Dolgoruky, has already come on full-scale combat duty.

Another two submarines, the Knyaz Vladimir (Duke Vladimir) and the Knyaz Oleg (Duke Oleg) have merged with the forces of permanent combat readiness.

Shoigu said in his report Russia's strategic missile forces were at a level that enabled them to perform the tasks of nuclear containment.

Russian Air Force

Russian Air Force has taken into service more than 140 jets and 135 helicopters this year, Shoigu said.

This year, aerospace defense brigades were restructured in air defense squadrons which the Defense Ministry abandoned in 2009-2012 according to plans approved by the then-Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. The Air Force also set up a combined air division and an air defense squadron.

The report said that 142 jets the Air Force received include 53 multifunctional fighter jets Sukhoi Su-30 and Su-35. Meanwhile, 18 modernized interceptors MiG-31VM, 16 fighter-bombers Su-34 and 28 different transport and training jets were handed to the military.

As many as 135 helicopter gunships include 46 choppers and 72 assault helicopters.

Meanwhile, seven air defense missile systems S-400 Triumf were brought into service in Russian Air Force for the past day, the report said.

Aerospace Defense Forces put on combat duty Voronezh-type highly prefabricated radar stations in Russian westernmost city of Kaliningrad and Irkutsk in Russia’s Far East, the document added. Another two similar radars were put on combat trial in Barnaul and Yeniseisk in eastern Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk territory. The coverage of these radar stations reaches 6,000 kilometers, they can be deployed for 12 to 18 months against 5-7 years of Voronezh predecessors.