REUTERS

"The formation of the Aerospace Forces through merging the Air Force and the Aerospace Defense Forces was the best way of improving the country's aerospace defense system," he said on Monday, August 3, RFE/RL reported.

"Aviation, the air defense and missile defense forces and the space forces and means of the Armed Forces have now been merged under a unified command," Shoigu said.

The new Aerospace Forces include the Air Force, the Air Defense and Missile Defense Forces and the Space Forces.

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The merger of the Air Force and the Aerospace Defense Forces will become a comprehensive approach to countering ballistic and aerodynamic targets both in outer space and in the air, Shoigu added.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a program for the modernization of the Russian military arsenal. Experts say that this is saber-rattling amid growing tensions between Moscow and the West, and against the backdrop of the Donbas conflict in eastern Ukraine.