Belarus Armed Forces

MT-LB in a truck... apparently in Belarus... notice hi visibility vest placed on the track. As guy on Twitter said "safety first" LOL.

Belarus Asks Russia for 'Means of Destruction' to Defend From Poland

Belarusian Defense Minister Andrei Ravkov said that the country needs weapons systems to defend itself from NATO countries rather than an air base, which was the subject of speculation earlier.

Belarus needs weapons systems to defend itself from a militarizing Poland, the country's defense minister Andrei Ravkov said on Thursday, arguing that his country does not need a Russian military base.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was previously said to be in talks with Russia over a proposed airbase in the country, although he later denied it happening, saying that Belarus needs missiles more than airbases. Lukashenko went on to win in the country's presidential elections on October 12 with over 84 percent of the vote. Following the elections, European Union sanctions against Belarus were lifted.

"What is the point of putting an airbase on Belarusian territory? For now, there is no point. Our thoughts are these: our neighbors, especially the newly elected president of Poland, he is asking NATO and they agreed, to put four bases of various use, including aviation, in the immediate vicinity of the Belarusian border. And the answer is simple: maybe we will take some sort of means of destruction which can in good time and at the right place strike these objects? That would be much more effective than an airbase," Ravkov said.

Lukashenko previously expressed concern about NATO activities around Belarus, and criticized Russia for not providing enough defense support. He later spoke out against having a Russian air base in the country, saying that Russian aircraft can take off from Russia's Smolensk, across the border from Belarus, with the same success.

In terms of missile systems, Belarus has developed a long-distance multiple rocket launcher system called Polonez ("Polonaise") together with China, which exceeds the capabilities of known similar Russian systems.

max steel wrote:Belarus Asks Russia for 'Means of Destruction' to Defend From Poland

Belarusian Defense Minister Andrei Ravkov said that the country needs weapons systems to defend itself from NATO countries rather than an air base, which was the subject of speculation earlier.

Belarus needs weapons systems to defend itself from a militarizing Poland, the country's defense minister Andrei Ravkov said on Thursday, arguing that his country does not need a Russian military base.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was previously said to be in talks with Russia over a proposed airbase in the country, although he later denied it happening, saying that Belarus needs missiles more than airbases. Lukashenko went on to win in the country's presidential elections on October 12 with over 84 percent of the vote. Following the elections, European Union sanctions against Belarus were lifted.

"What is the point of putting an airbase on Belarusian territory? For now, there is no point. Our thoughts are these: our neighbors, especially the newly elected president of Poland, he is asking NATO and they agreed, to put four bases of various use, including aviation, in the immediate vicinity of the Belarusian border. And the answer is simple: maybe we will take some sort of means of destruction which can in good time and at the right place strike these objects? That would be much more effective than an airbase," Ravkov said.

Lukashenko previously expressed concern about NATO activities around Belarus, and criticized Russia for not providing enough defense support. He later spoke out against having a Russian air base in the country, saying that Russian aircraft can take off from Russia's Smolensk, across the border from Belarus, with the same success.

In terms of missile systems, Belarus has developed a long-distance multiple rocket launcher system called Polonez ("Polonaise") together with China, which exceeds the capabilities of known similar Russian systems.

Very suspicious...

They do not want a russian AFB, not that they consider a detterance weapon more valuable, they just do not want AFB entirely but a detterance weapon. If they are to overthrown or siding with US they could use the very same weapon as detterance against russia. That means only one thing russia is the only one that would have safe use of it in Belarus to keep detterance against US(NATO) and against coup de etats, traitors to slavic people.

Belarusian 1st Airdefense Missile Regiment at Grodno in northwestern Belarus. Armed with S-300PS:





Source: https://twitter.com/Missilito/status/661085390976245760

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko reaffirmed Belarus' peaceful policy and resolution to defend national interests. The head of state made the statement at a session of the Security Council while discussing the Military Doctrine of Belarus on January 22. Alexander Lukashenko stressed that there are no direct military threats to Belarus.

Alexander Lukashenko said that the analysis of the present-day situation requires adjustments to the country's national security approaches, including in the military sector.
In his words, last year the Defence Minister was tasked to explore all options of possible response with the use of force to contemporary threats taking into account the long-term forecast and reflect this in the new edition of the Military Doctrine, which was accomplished.

The military-political leadership of the country increased its activity in strengthening the combat power of the Belarusian army. The main efforts of the Ministry of Defence are focused on purchasing new weapons and military equipment, as well as on the modernization of existing ones.
And this process went far beyond the priorities outlined last year: the Air Force and Air Defense Forces, MTR and the development of UAVs. In order to increase the combat capabilities of units, the Ministry of Defence purchased new aircraft, upgraded radar systems and communications systems.

Now it is time for the tanks’ modernization. According to the plans of the military leadership of Belarus, specialists have already started to implement a phased modernization of all T-72B that are in service. T-72B – the main battle tank of the Belarusian army, numbers more than 400 tanks. Their modernization will allow bringing tank units to a new level.
Last year the 140th Repair Plant, one of the main enterprises of Belarus’ Goskomvoenprom, demonstrated its own program of deep modernization of T-72B - "Vityaz". Obviously, the modernization of the Belarusian tanks will be made in Belarus - it is much cheaper and more reliable. Moreover, it is known that the first tanks "Vityaz" left the assembly line, and were tested in the units in the course of combat training. They showed a very high efficiency.

What's new in the Belarusian version of T-72?
Belarusian defense industry has made fundamental changes in the fire control system. It is, first of all, the installation of modern fire control system with multi-channel gunner's sight "Sosna-U", automatic target tracking, PNK-4S-01 observation and sighting system. These changes allow the gunner to search and defeat the target using the cannon and coaxial machine gun in the "Double" regime at any time, in any weather.
In addition, the tank is enhanced by an anti-aircraft machine gun that allows to defeat more effectively the air and ground targets from the crew compartment of the tank at a distance of up to 1600 meters.
Combat capability and survivability of tank is significantly increased due to the use of new complex of active protection "Barrier" and dynamic protection "Knife".

"Vityaz" is also equipped with new digital radio stations R-181-50VU "Rhapsody" and navigation system (GLONASS/GPS). The ergonomic characteristics are also improved.
At the same time the modernization of the tanks is only partial, primarily due to the fact, that changes have not touched the engine, automatic loader and gun.
A somewhat different story is in using dynamic protection system "Knife" and active protection system "Barrier" of the Ukrainian production for "Vityaz". It may seem illogical, that Minsk, the closest ally of Moscow, uses the Ukrainian military technology against the background of extremely tense relations between Russia and Ukraine.

Probably, this approach was due to the overpriced Russian dynamic protection "Relic". At the same time, according to Ukrainian experts, Belarus-Ukrainian contract for the supply of dynamic protection involves subsequent transferring of production technology, which will significantly improve the capacity of the domestic defense industry and enhance its export potential.
As for the "Barrier", that was criticized by Russian experts, it should be said that the American experts who conducted their own study of the system, refuted their point of view. Moreover, Russia itself is developing a system of active protection "Afghanit", which is based on the same principles as the "Barrier".

It becomes clear that the military leadership of Belarus, taking the decision to modernize tanks T-72B, came primarily from the economic opportunities of the country, leaving aside political ambitions.

Belarus held large scale military exercise in late January

Belarus rocket forces live fire exercise, Uragan ,Smerch , Tochka

Nice  

Belarus gaining in strength

2016Russia supplied to Belarus three battalions of S-300

"Now take the third division in Borisov", - O. Dvigalev said. According to him, earlier in Khabarovsk we received two divisions of S-300 PS, who intercede on combat duty in the 377th anti-aircraft missile regiment in Polotsk (Vitebsk region).

The commander said that the fourth division will be supplied to Belarus in March this year

New Yak 130s of Belorussian airforce doing Air defence exercise

does anyone have a list of small arms in use by Belarus? including anti tank weapons, mortars, manpads, ZSU-23-2 etc? can only find vehicles and aircraft etc. I know most will be Soviet and Russian just wanted to know what. I know they have shershan ATGW.

Its a shame the 2T stalker didnt come into service pretty cool combat recce vehicle, problem with Belarus is funds, they just dont spend much on their armed forces.

d_taddei2 wrote:does anyone have a list of small arms in use by Belarus? including anti tank weapons, mortars, manpads, ZSU-23-2 etc? can only find vehicles and aircraft etc. I know most will be Soviet and Russian just wanted to know what. I know they have shershan ATGW.

Its a shame the 2T stalker didnt come into service pretty cool combat recce vehicle, problem with Belarus is funds, they just dont spend much on their armed forces.

Very similar to what Russians use.

Makarov is standard service issued pistol

Standard assault rifles are mix of AK74, AK74M, AKS-74M and AK-74U, occasionally older models like AKM, AKMS can be spotted

Machine gun RPK-74/RPK-74M/RPKS in reserve mostly RPD and RPK

Then standard mix of specialised firearms like PKM, NSV, DShK, Dragunov SVD

Special units same as in Russia use often VSS Vintorez, VSK-94, 9A-91

Main AT weapon of Belarus are still RPG7 and SPG-9M, however they do operate ATGMs too Metis, Konkurs and Fagot which are to be gradually replaced with their domestic Shershen

AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher is also in service


When its about AA guns i know they for sure operate ZSU-23-2, Tunguska and Shilka

Igla MANPADs from what i am aware last Strela M2s were destroyed some years ago

Mortars i for sure know about 2S12 Sani and most likely 2B14 Podnos too

They also use RPO-A Shmel, RPG29, RPG26 and similar AT weapons as they were inherited from USSR

d_taddei2 wrote:does anyone have a list of small arms in use by Belarus? including anti tank weapons, mortars, manpads, ZSU-23-2 etc? can only find vehicles and aircraft etc. I know most will be Soviet and Russian just wanted to know what. I know they have shershan ATGW.

Its a shame the 2T stalker didnt come into service pretty cool combat recce vehicle, problem with Belarus is funds, they just dont spend much on their armed forces.

It's not funds, it's they're the Belarus. Minotor Service knew the 2T was never going to sell well, since they proposed it to the damn Russian armed forces. The good point was the frontal arc. Russians should have tried to cut a deal, but otherwise the platform for the 2T was already an antiquity.

"Tests are being conducted of the «Caiman» Light Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle for the Belorussian Interior Ministry’s Interior Troops and and foreign buyers.

«Caiman» Light Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle have a diesel engine D-245 with electronic fuel control and reinforced five-speed manual transmission. Independent torsion bar suspension, axles, wheel gearboxes designers borrowed from the BTR-60. Armored vehicle “Cayman” have weight of no more than seven tons (with six crew members and weapons) and has a top speed on the highway 110 kilometers per hour. Power reserve is about 1,000 kilometers ."



Source: http://defence-blog.com/army/test-driving-a-new-belorussian-caiman-light-armoured-reconnaissance-vehicle.html

Call me crazy but it reminds me abit of Serbian BOV M11

Ok so this looks like a stretched BDRM-2 or a GAZ Vodnik and as already stated similar to bov m11. Good on them for trying and it looks reasonable. But Russia already stocks better. Belarus has made some useful items the shershan ATGW and the new MLRS system the only other thing I liked but never went into production was the 2T stalker.

So we know that the Belarusian air force and air defence isn't that great but what of its ground forces??? Are they any good??? What's the training like? ??? Views Welcome

d_taddei2 wrote:

So we know that the Belarusian air force and air defence isn't that great but what of its ground forces???

Lulwhat ?

Is this some sort of flamebait ?

If not then name me 5 countries with better AF and ADF in Europe of the size of Belarus.

Kadmos45 wrote:

d_taddei2 wrote:

So we know that the Belarusian air force and air defence isn't that great but what of its ground forces???

Lulwhat ?

Is this some sort of flamebait ?

If not then name me 5 countries with better AF and ADF in Europe of the size of Belarus.

so your saying 37x Mig-29   (of which 13 are BM version) and god knows what state the rest are in and Su-25(not SM level) would be suffice against NATO? what you forget even the Belarusians realise their airforce isn't what it should be, and you also forget that most european countries are in NATO so if there ever was conflict it would be against one country or even two, it would be against NATO. Indeed they have better AF and ADF than the likes of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, but that isn't exactly hard. The Mig-29 they have should be upgraded to SMT/M2 level if the airframes are ok, and Su-25 upgraded also,  they could have even brought back into service 12 Su-24 and 12 Su-27 and have them upgraded then you would have a good capable airforce. Its airdefence does need upgrading, Pantsir, and upgraded Tor, Buk, and S-300 and your sorted. Also you forgot to answer the question whats your views on its ground forces????

as for your question without going too much into researchng it, i would say Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Finland, Poland, and i think even some smaller countries like Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, could still prove to be a handful, also depends on what you mean by size. Also having a certain amount of aircraft doesn't mean it would be a great airforce it ultimately boils down to maintenance, training/flying hours, and just how good the pilots are. Another thing to consider is Belarus's defence budget, around $2bn, isn't a huge amount for the size of its force, then maintenance could be questioned. I however think Belarus pilots possibly dont get as much training as they should, as for ground forces they seem to be fairly good.

d_taddei2 wrote:

so your saying 37x Mig-29   (of which 13 are BM version) and god knows what state the rest are in and Su-25(not SM level) would be suffice against NATO?

I'm saying you are either joking or else. Are you aware that you compare single Belarus to entire NATO ? This is not reasonable to put it mildly. You should compare Russia + Belarus at least .Belarus military airspace is integrated with Russian one.

d_taddei2 wrote:
what you forget even the Belarusians realise their airforce isn't what it should be, and you also forget that most european countries are in NATO so if there ever was conflict it would be against one country or even two, it would be against NATO.

Things always can be better. For one small, not really rich country it is more than adequate.
And you are basically saying that small Belarus have worse Airforce than entire NATO.
I could compare Estonia AF to Russia's but it would be senseless.
Like i said Belarus military airspace is integrated with Russian one. If you really want to compare it to entire NATO then add Russia to equation.

d_taddei2 wrote:
Also you forgot to answer the question whats your views on its ground forces????

I didn't forget anything. It was not question to me. But belarus ground forces are perfectly adequate for its tasks.Of course there is always something that could be better, more modern ( too many old 72B etc.)and so on.

d_taddei2 wrote:
as for your question without going too much into researchng it, i would say Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Finland, Poland, and i think even some smaller countries like Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, could still prove to be a handful,

The only country in Europe in NATO that is comparable or smaller to Belarus and have much bigger airforce is Greece ( for obvious reasons).
There is no such comparable country with better ADF though , even by the long shot.

d_taddei2 wrote:
also depends on what you mean by size. Also having a certain amount of aircraft doesn't mean it would be a great airforce it ultimately boils down to maintenance, training/flying hours, and just how good the pilots are. Another thing to consider is Belarus's defence budget, around $2bn, isn't a huge amount for the size of its force, then maintenance could be questioned. I however think Belarus pilots possibly dont get as much training as they should, as for ground forces they seem to be fairly good.

That can be said about everyone. It can be said about Belgium, Netherland, Finland etc.
And why do you think that Belarus pilots have less training ? Do you have access to their flight logs, or it is just your hunch ?

Kadmos45 wrote:

d_taddei2 wrote:

so your saying 37x Mig-29   (of which 13 are BM version) and god knows what state the rest are in and Su-25(not SM level) would be suffice against NATO?

I'm saying you are either joking or else. Are you aware that you compare single Belarus to entire NATO ? This is not reasonable to put it mildly. You should compare Russia + Belarus at least .Belarus military airspace is integrated with Russian one.

d_taddei2 wrote:
what you forget even the Belarusians realise their airforce isn't what it should be, and you also forget that most european countries are in NATO so if there ever was conflict it would be against one country or even two, it would be against NATO.

Things always can be better. For one small, not really rich country it is more than adequate.
And you are basically saying that small Belarus have worse Airforce than entire NATO.
I could compare Estonia AF to Russia's but it would be senseless.
Like i said Belarus military airspace is integrated with Russian one. If you really want to compare it to entire NATO then add Russia to equation.

d_taddei2 wrote:
Also you forgot to answer the question whats your views on its ground forces????

I didn't forget anything. It was not question to me. But belarus ground forces are perfectly adequate for its tasks.Of course there is always something that could be better, more modern ( too many old 72B etc.)and so on.

d_taddei2 wrote:
as for your question without going too much into researchng it, i would say Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Finland, Poland, and i think even some smaller countries like Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, could still prove to be a handful,

The only country in Europe in NATO that is comparable or smaller to Belarus and have much bigger airforce is Greece ( for obvious reasons).
There is no such comparable country with better ADF though , even by the long shot.

d_taddei2 wrote:
also depends on what you mean by size. Also having a certain amount of aircraft doesn't mean it would be a great airforce it ultimately boils down to maintenance, training/flying hours, and just how good the pilots are. Another thing to consider is Belarus's defence budget, around $2bn, isn't a huge amount for the size of its force, then maintenance could be questioned. I however think Belarus pilots possibly dont get as much training as they should, as for ground forces they seem to be fairly good.

That can be said about everyone. It can be said about Belgium, Netherland, Finland etc.
And why do you think that Belarus pilots have less training ? Do you have access to their flight logs, or it is just your hunch ?

firstly it was you who blew this all out of proportion also the post asked for views on ground force not anything else and YES this was the question to the forum and i believe that you are part of the forum yes?
also i quote "i think that Belarus pilots possibly dont get as much training as they should" two key words there that you obviously did not pick up on think and possibly. So i never said it was gospel did I????

I also never said that it wasn't intergrated into Russian air defence network and like i said if there was conflict then it would be a NATO issue. I think honestly that you have taken this way off course, either way you look at it Belarus AF and ADF does need some improvement, and like i also said this is down to budget constraints than anything else. I actually think Belarus has a good armed forces and like i also said i liked some of there home grown products, (you will notice that i mention a lot "I also mentioned" which is a good indication of people not reading the previous posts properly).

So as you say the Belarusian ground forces are capable but still need some improvements, so what would you suggest they improve?????

Newer equipment such as:
- T-72B3M or outright wait for Armata as they are more capable against western armor.
- Newer aircraft. Lean and mean is correct for Belarus, but newer crafts are needed. Su-30SM may enter Belarus airforce to replace MiG-29 series. Although waiting for PAK FA may be ideal.
- Ratnik like program. Since number of ground troops is small, make it mandatory for all troops.
- More modern electronic warfare and early warning system. To have the edge in technology against the enemy.

Just some IMO.

sepheronx wrote:Newer equipment such as:
- T-72B3M or outright wait for Armata as they are more capable against western armor.
- Newer aircraft. Lean and mean is correct for Belarus, but newer crafts are needed. Su-30SM may enter Belarus airforce to replace MiG-29 series. Although waiting for PAK FA may be ideal.
- Ratnik like program. Since number of ground troops is small, make it mandatory for all troops.
- More modern electronic warfare and early warning system. To have the edge in technology against the enemy.

Just some IMO.

i think upgrading their stocks of:

T-72 to T-72B3M (as you said)
BMP-1 and BMP-2. Purchase BMP-3M including 2S31 "Vena" and a mix of 9P157-2 "Khrizantema-S and 9P163M-1 "Kornet-T.
BTR-80 to BTR-82AM, and replace their BTR-70 with BTR-82A also purchase 2S23 Nona-SVK
Tocka and buy additional Iskander or replace Tocka with Iskander and keep Tocka with reserve forces.
BM-21
2S1
2S3 or buy 2S19 M-sta
buy more Polonez MLRS (Belarusian MLRS)
buy TIGR-M including Kornet-D/EM
buy some of their locally produced Caiman armoured recce.
and upgrade what they can on Air defence, SA-8, SA-13, Tor, BUK, S-300 and Tunguska,  and buy Pantsir.
Upgrade their Mig-29 to SMT/M2 level depending on airframe condition, or purchase Mig-35
upgrade their Su-25
and buy one squadron of Su-30SM.
upgrade Mi-24 or replace with Mi-35M

and like you mentioned some good EW equipment/vehicles/aircraft and your sorted. I know this sounds like a lot but most of it is upgrades, most expensive thing on here is the Su-30SM, Mig-35(if you choose it) and Mi-35M (if you choose it)

New gear of Belarussian infantry, from recent CSTO exercises

Tank crews got some action



Air defence



MZKT and test drive

CSTO in Tajikistan



Army spetsnaz