Russia launches $650b defence spending drive

---

MOSCOW, Feb 24 (AFP): Russia will spend $650 billion in a massive new military procurement drive through 2020, equipping its forces with eight nuclear submarines and hundreds of new warplanes, a top official said Thursday. The spending plan envisages Russia returning its focus to the navy, equipping its new nuclear submarines with Bulava ballistic missiles that have been under development since the late 1990s, Deputy Defence Minister Vladimir Popovkin was quoted as saying. "The main task is the modernisation of our armed forces. Nineteen trillion rubles ($653 billion) will be allocated for this," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying. The procurement drive, which has been repeatedly flagged by the Kremlin, is a key element of landmark military reforms which aims to revamp the armed forces' Soviet-era structures to cope with the demands of modern warfare.