The Russian navy will receive more than 50 new warships by 2016, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.

In the coming three years, 18 surface warships, 30 special-purpose and counter-subversion vessels as well as six multi-purpose strategic submarines will be put into service, the ministry said in a statement.

The new generation strategic nuclear submarines and special operations support vessels will be built under better quality control mechanism, with the introduction of new technical and modernization solutions, according to the ministry.

The ministry said Wednesday the navy would conduct drills in the Mediterranean and Black Seas late this month with the participation of warships from the Northern, Baltic, Black Sea and Pacific Fleets.

The scheduled military operations were aimed to improve control, ensure and practice multi-service force interaction of the fleets in the far-off maritime zones, said the ministry.

Russian Navy Commander Victor Chirkov said last November that the navy planned to fully upgrade all of the four fleets by 2020.

According to Chirkov, the Black Sea, Baltic, Northern and Pacific fleets have been modernizing vessels, armament, as well as coastal and social infrastructure.