Venezuela and Russia signed a contract Thursday on the purchase of 10 Russian helicopters worth 120 million US dollars.

The deal was signed by Venezuelan Defense Minister Jorge Garcia and Russian ambassador Mikhail Orlovets.

The 10 helicopters are nine gunships to be used to police the border with Colombia and a transportation helicopter with a capacity to carry 86 fully-geared soldiers, or 100 without equipment.

Under the contract, a maintenance center for the aircraft will be set up in Venezuela. Russians also promised to transfer technology and train Venezuelan officers.

The 10 helicopters will be the first delivery of a total of 44 to be bought from Russia. Caracas will also purchase 100,000 Russian AK-103 and AK-104 assault rifles worth 400 million dollars.

The helicopters are expected to be delivered in two batches within 12 months, it is said.

Garcia said the high performance helicopters can meet the demand of the Venezuelan military.

In February, parliament approved a resolution supporting the government's efforts to renew and update the equipment of the armed forces and rejected the US opposition to arms procurement from Russia.

But the resolution did not gain support of opposition legislators who argued that it was immoral to spend millions of dollars on arms while thousands of flooding victims needed help.

Source: Xinhua