Photo from UNIAN
Vice Admiral Serhiy Hayduk, commander of the Ukrainian Navy, has unveiled plans to sell the Navy’s cruiser Ukraina and use the funds to purchase new military vessels, according to the Defense Times.
"The proceedings from its sale will be used to build new ships," Hayduk said, the Defense Timews reports citing Ukraine's television broadcaster Espreso TV.
Hayduk said that up to 80% of the weapons and navigation equipment installed onboard the Ukraina were acquired from Russia, and they are not produced by the Ukrainian defense industry. The vice admiral did not disclose which countries could potentially buy the vessel.
Read alsoDeputy chief of Ukraine’s Navy: terms of operation of all Ukrainian military vessels will have run out by 2018 By the end of 2015, the Navy aims to acquire two new vessels. Hayduk also said the Navy’s outdated Be-12 planes will be replaced with new aircraft. The most likely replacement includes the Antonov An-132, a new multipurpose transport aircraft jointly developed by Ukraine’s Antonov and Saudi Arabia’s Taqnia Aeronautics Co.
Last August, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced it was drafting a conceptual document on a special program for acquisitions of arms and military equipment by the Ukrainian military in the years 2015-2020. The procurements are designed to modernize the Armed Forces as well as replace Russian-built gear with new weapons.