Russian news agency Tass revealed the 59 per cent of the fleet will have the most advanced weaponry available. Russian Defence Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu told defence chiefs about the massive investment on Friday. He said: ”This year, the Northern Fleet will get 368 items of advanced armament and military hardware.
“By the end of the year, the share of advanced weapons will total 59%,”
The Minister also revealed Russia will continue to build cantonments for stationing units on its Arctic coast.
“The block-modular cantonment in the settlement of Tiksi (the Russian Arctic port) will be transferred for operation.”
The new weapons will mean the fleet will mean the latest technology will be used to battle planes, submarines and enemy ships.
She said: “The completion of the construction of the entire garrison’s infrastructure will make it possible to deploy a new air defence unit of the Northern Fleet.”
Russia’s Paket weapons system, which translates to “bundle” in English, is a flexible rocket launching system which has one of the longest ranges in naval warfare.
Paket’s small-size heat-seeking torpedo targets submarines and its anti-torpedo can take out enemy torpedoes making it both a offensive and defensive weapons system.
Warships equipped with the pioneering weapons systems have their anti-torpedo defence effectiveness improved by 3.5 times.
The Northern Fleet was established in 1933 by the Soviet Union and descends from the Arctic Sea Flotilla which was created by the Russian Empire to protect the White Sea during the First World War.
The fleet currently has 39 warships and 42 submarines and its main port is Severonmorsk and has several bases on the coast of the Barents Sea.
The Northern Fleet often holds giant naval exercises in the Baltic Sea as part of an ongoing military build up between Russia and NATO.