Close to half of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, especially the Russian Navy, remains equipped with obsolete weapons and this perilous situation must change, admitted Russian president Vladimir Putin.

"In 2016, state-of-the-art weapons and hardware in the Russian Navy accounted for 47%," said Putin.

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"The figure from the armed forces in general was 58.3%."

The Russian strongman said the task of the armed forces is to bring the share of state-of-the-art weapons and hardware in the navy to 70 percent by 2020.

"We have everything to achieve this goal and we will do it," said Putin.

He revealed that key priorities of the development of the navy are to strengthen naval strategic nuclear forces, to rearm the navy with state-of-the-art weapons and to synchronize the development of auxiliary infrastructure.

Russia needs to ensure it has a balanced navy capable of fulfilling the entire range of short and long-distance tasks by 2025, said Putin.

"By 2025, we need to have a balanced navy that is capable of fulfilling the entire range of short and long-distance tasks, particularly ensuring Russia's naval presence in all strategically important areas of the world," said Putin.

He also noted that the vast majority of weapons components should be produced in Russia in compliance with the import substitution program in the near future.

"On the whole, experts say that thanks to the import substitution program, by 2025, 85% of our weapons and military hardware parts will be made in Russia, besides, they should strictly meet the Defense Ministry's requirements," Putin added.

Putin also wanted a large-scale project to produce indigenous gas turbine engines for warships and rid Russia of its dependence on Ukrainian-made engines for the navy.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said the project "is not just the launch of new engine production but marks the beginning of a new sector, gas turbine engine-building."