Russia is drawing up a new state arms program for 2006-2015, a senior aide to President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday at a press conference in European Russia. “It is not a secret now, a new state arms program for 2006-2015 is being drawn up … to modernize the [Russian] Armed Forces,” said Alexander Burutin, Putin’s aide for military-technical policy and the military-industrial complex. According to Burutin, his current trip to Nizhny Novgorod, 400km or 250mi from Moscow, is focused on military-industrial enterprises, their production capabilities and competitiveness, in relation to the implementation of the program. Full Story