State Authority for Military Industry: Belarusian troops annually receive up to 20 new domestically produced weapons
As informed by the Chairman of the State Authority for Military Industry, Dmitry Pantus, in his talk with the STV TV channel, everything possible is done to ensure that the country’s Armed Forces receive the most modern weapons every year
“We annually implement more than 200 R&D projects on an initiative basis (sometimes jointly with the Defence Ministry) to develop and modernise various types of weapons. This work is continuous, and – as a result – up to 20 new models are put into service every year. The stake is placed both on modernisation of old weapons and development of new ones. Some of them are being developed from scratch, but there are many cost-effective and successful projects aimed at modernisation of various systems that have historically been in service with our troops,” the Chairman of the State Authority for Military Industry commented.
Mr. Pantus noted that weapons of destruction are now one of the main focuses of the country's military-industrial complex. “The Polonaise missile system is a striking example, but there are also a number of other modern developments: some have been created from scratch, and others represent modernised Soviet-made weapons. An unmanned aerial vehicle is, in turn, one of the most relevant areas of our development,” he said.
Means of electronic warfare against drones is another direction, and the State Authority for Military Industry has seriously succeeded here. “Some of the samples are on the top of the global arms market today. They have been tested not only in Belarus, but also abroad: i.e. our Groza (Thunderstorm) line of means of electronic suppression enjoys great demand. Work is underway to install these systems not only at military and strategic facilities, but also at civilian infrastructure objects,” Mr. Pantus noted.
The Chairman of the State Authority for Military Industry also mentioned the means of automated control of various branches of the Armed Forces, as well as communication systems. Belarus’ Armed Forces receive weapons of fully domestic production, with their own software. “This is because everyone understands perfectly well that communication often plays a key role in military conflicts, this direction is very important. In my opinion, we have succeeded the most here,” Mr. Pantus noted.
