Defense Ministry to buy eight planes and eight military helicopters

Eight planes and eight military helicopters will be purchased from the state budget for defending the state border. The costs are assessed at US$240 million. A bill to this effect was put forward by the Ministry of Defense, Info-Prim Neo reports. Minister of Defense Vitalie Marinuta said the bill defines the method of defending the state border against the planes that illegally enter Moldova’s airspace. “In order to successfully fulfill the task of securing the state border and the airspace, there must be identified possibilities of equipping the Air Force with planes and military helicopters,” said the minister. Vitalie Marinuta also said that the helicopters of the National Army are helicopters for transportation, not military ones, while the fighter jets MIG that the Ministry is trying to sell cannot be used to intercept aircraft. The bill was passed by the parliamentary majority in first reading.