Meeting to discuss financing of military-related procurement

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko hosted a government meeting to discuss the financing of military-related procurement.

“Today we will discuss the issues related to the financing of military-related procurement for the needs of law enforcement agencies. Given the present level of threats against Belarus we keep close tabs on the domestic military and industrial production. I would like to stress that despite the unprecedented sanctions we are still able to produce enough weapons and military equipment for the needs of the Belarusian army,” the head of state said. “We easily get everything we need (I mean hardware) from Russia. As for microelectronics, optics, other things, we need to thank those who have preserved the technologies we inherited from the Soviet Union, thus together with Russia we can produce any type of weapons,” he added.

Belarus can export these products to 57 countries, which it actually does, the President said. “We have been successfully developing modern weapons not only in the areas where we have scientific and technological capabilities and expertise. We are also mastering new areas that are in demand today, including such as missiles and large caliber artillery ammunition,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

According to him, a lineup of unmanned aerial vehicles, developed in Belarus, was presented at Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground in October 2022. “The Armed Forces successfully demonstrated their combat capabilities during that event,” the head of state said. He added, however, that there was still need to further work on modern strike drones in Belarus.

"While developing the manufacturing capabilities of unmanned aircraft, we pay great attention to ways of countering this type of weapon," the President continued. "Anti-drone radio-electronic means developed by Belarusian specialists are in great demand."

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that a robotic complex has been designed to detect and destruct air targets. Development of a medium-range anti-aircraft missile system and an anti-aircraft guided missile to this system is on the home stretch. "I hope that this year we will receive good news in this regard," he said.

Last year, domestic manufacturers supplied the Armed Forces of Belarus with more than 500 pieces of new weapons and hardware, the President stated. He noted that six samples entered service, including the modernized Uragan-M multiple launch rocket system and two types of unmanned air strike systems.

In order to equip the Belarusian part of the regional group of forces, Russia has supplied Belarus with an Iskander operational-tactical missile system with the necessary stocks of missiles and ammunition and an S-400 long-range anti-aircraft missile system. "What the military wanted, they got it. These are the formidable weapons," the Belarusian leader said.

Within the framework of the state program, Belarus purchased a battery of the Tor anti-aircraft missile system, anti-tank guided missiles, mortars, rocket infantry flamethrowers, more than 830,000 ammunition of various calibers, the President added.

"Su-30CM aircraft, Mi-35M helicopters, armored personnel carriers and other weapons, missiles and ammunition will be delivered," the head of state said. “In terms of the development of modern weapons, we are not standing still. Our army is getting the necessary samples to respond to emerging challenges and threats. Nevertheless, there is much to strive for. I'm not talking about small arms, grenade launchers and so on… We have plenty of that. I'm talking about a more formidable weapon. This is what we must strive for. We'll work on that."