"If my memory does not fail me, last year I [at the post of a deputy defense minister] signed [contracts] worth 40 billion rubles. This year, by all parameters, the forum beats all

records of last year by about 40 percent. I think it will [exceed the figure of last year's contracts]," Borisov told Sputnik at the event's opening. The Deputy Prime Minister

also noted that the Russian Defense Ministry had ordered a pilot batch of 100 Armata tanks. According to Borisov, Russia's Armata tank and other military equipment developed on the

basis of Armata combat platform surpass characteristics of foreign analogs by 15-30 percent.  READ MORE: RUSSIAN JETS PERFORM MANEUVERS AT OPENING OF 'ARMY 2018' INT'L