MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. The order book of Russian defense contractors totaled a record $56 billion in 2015, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in his annual report on the government’s work in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, on Tuesday.

"Last year, revenues from the exports of military products exceeded $14 billion. Contracts worth over $26 billion were signed while the order book in late 2015 hit a record $56 billion," Medvedev said.

The Russian defense and industrial sector is becoming ever more technologically independent of foreign deliveries, the premier said.

"The production volume increased by 13% in 2015 and the output of military products expanded by almost 20%," Medvedev said.

"As compared with 2014, output expanded by 32% in radio-electronics, by 22.5% in the munitions and special chemistry industry, by more than 16% in ship-building, by 7.5% in the rocket and space industry and by 5.9% in the aviation sector," the Russian premier reported.

The Russian government will continue its import substitution work in this strategically important sphere as this is a condition for Russia’s survival and a guarantee of its sovereignty, Medvedev said.

In Medvedev’s opinion, the achievements of defense industry designers, engineers and workers have allowed the country to effectively cope with the task of rearming the Russian Army and Navy.

"As a result of the successful fulfillment of the state defense order in 2015, the share of modern armament and military hardware in the Russian Armed Forces exceeded the planned figures by 50% [30% by late 2015] and averaged about 47%," the Russian premier said.