Russia Plans to Dispose of 3.5Bln Ammo Rounds, 140,000 Missiles by 2020

MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia plans to dismantle about 140,000 old missiles and 3.5 billion rounds of obsolete ammunitionby 2020, but the country may have trouble meeting that deadline, an Industry and Trade Ministry official said Wednesday.

Russia’s dismantlement facilities are currently able to dispose of 300,000 to 350,000 tons of such munitions a year, but they need to get rid of 1.5 million tons a year to meet the deadline, said Alexander Kochkin, deputy head of the ministry’s arms and ammunition department.

Russia has abandoned dismantlement by detonation due to a series of accidents at disposal facilities. Oleg Bochkaryov, deputy head of the Military-Industrial Commission, said Wednesday that no efficient alternative to detonation had yet been found.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the same day that he expected a NATO-Russia project on disposal and recycling of surplus, obsolete and unstable munitions in Russia’s westernmost region, Kaliningrad, would begin working next year.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in May that the country was already “reducing the number of arms and ammunition” in the Kaliningrad Region, with “several hundred tanks and artillery systems withdrawn from there in recent years.”

The Russian Armed Forces are in the midst of a major program of reform, including a gradual transition to an all-volunteer makeup, organizational changes and re-equipment with modern weapons.
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