Belarus Armed Forces

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

d_taddei2 wrote:

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.

Yeap, Belarus is something akin to the Baltic in that regard, minus the need for asking Russia to guard their airspace with QRA Fulcrums. About 13 of their own Fulcrums should be serviceable. Basically they have no real Air Force for war purposes and their strike capability is non-existent. As frontier country vs NATO having CAS assets like a dozen old Su-25 is not exactly a priority. These will be shot off the sky in a matter of a day or two if SHTF (e.g. Georgia 2008).

Belarus is the Foulda Gap reversed, but with nowhere near the capable/strong forces to defend it. Those S-300PS are good start but still there needs to be improvement in the air (fast jets) and ground (armor). The current order of battle and deployment on the ground is abysmally short-sighted and insufficient in quantity.

MLRS "Polonez"

does anyone actually know whats actually happening with the so-called modernisation plans for the air force??

there was talk a while back about upgrading their retired Su-27's then their was talk about getting ex-Indian Su-30K and upgrading to KN, and in December 2015 10 Mig-29's were refurbished but no mention of upgrade. With such a small armed forces budget its hard for them to purchase anything great in decent numbers. I have a feeling Belarus is hoping that buying Yak-130 and possibly giving them a homegrown upgrade to combat duties that this will suffice, as it double up as a trainer as well. Which isn't a bad idea however i still think more capable aircraft need to be bought. Dont get me wrong the Yak-130 could be a decent little combat aircraft and would be ideal for taking out helicopters, drones, basic fixed wing as well as ground attack missions, but for taking on more high tech fixed wing fighters they would struggle. A logical solution would be to upgrade existing Mi-24 to Mi-24PN/Mi-35M or depending on condition buy some, their Mig-29's yet again depending on condition they could upgrade some more to their homegrown upgrade to BM level which is similar to M2/SMT which to be honest is good enough for their needs. The Su-25 should also be upgraded. And once this has been done they could look to purchase if budget allows either 12x Su-30Sm, or more likely options buy the ex Indian Su-30K and upgrade as mentioned or upgrade their retired Su-27 to Sm level. Mig-35 could also be a good option but costs to buy new aircraft will no doubt be out of reach of their budget.

To help save on costs etc they could reduce the number of aircraft in their inventory their numbers are currently approx. as follows(not inc Yak-130):

Mig-29 x 37 (with 12-13 of BM standard)

Su-25 x 68

Mi-24V x 20.


ideally they could reduce Mi-24 down to 18, keep 2 for parts. The Mig-29 they could upgrade a few more to BM level and aim for 24 in service the rest for spare parts. And keep around 36 Su-25 and have them upgraded, they could keep a few for spares and the rest they could refurbish and upgrade and sell them off to African nations or Iraq to help general cash for upgrades and purchases. Also if the budget allowed they could bring back into service 12 x Su-24 and have them upgraded.

So to re-cap what they ideally want is as follows:

Mig-29BM x 24

Su-25Sm/SM3 x 36

Mi-24PN/35M x 18

Su-30KN x 12 or Su-27Sm x 12

Su-24M2 x 12

this would give them a good mix of interceptor and ground attack, and back this up with their air defence (which is actually quite good) then they could have a capable air force. And the Yak-130's could in times of conflict if needed be used for combat missions (especially drone hunting).  


anyone else got any news of whats happening?

anyone else got any views on what they should go for?

George1 wrote:Belarus has received four Yak-130









http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2276517.html

nice and it look like there going to be armed as well

Small arms of Belarus Spetsnaz:

George1 wrote:The first batch of Chinese armored cars CS/VN3 arrived in Belarus

On June 21, 2017, the first consignment of Chinese CS/VN3 armored vehicles arrived in Belarus according to the agreement between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus and the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China Republic on the provision of gratuitous military-technical assistance.







http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2682832.html

That's pretty bad that Belarus is buying armoured vehicles like this they can actually produce such vehicles

That's a lot of artillery and vehicles. Just like Russia and Ukraine harbouring vast amount of equipment. If Belarus pushed sales of these and cleared them they would actually have some money to buy and upgrade it's forces.

http://m.fishki.net/1214644-reportazh-so-sklada-oruzhija.html

Belarus silently builds a new army. Mostly based on a smaller army which consists of light mobile forces and an a key emphasis on special forces and reduced number of heavy weapons. If this is the case they need to start selling older equipment and heavy weapons fast to provide money for this.

https://belarusdigest.com/story/minsk-silently-builds-a-new-army/

Very interesting read of current situation and future plans. Some key points military spending up by a fifth. 25% of older vehicles to be sold off. Plans to keep large air defence force and reduction of troops mainly in the form of conscripts with more reliance on reservists and contracted force

https://belarusdigest.com/story/how-many-divisions-does-lukashenka-have/