A full-scale hybrid war has been unleashed against Belarus, which is offensive in nature. This was stated by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on July 12 at the Palace of Independence at a ceremony honoring graduates of military universities and senior officers. The Belarusian leader also regretfully pointed out that the policy of the West is bringing the world closer to the abyss of a great war in which there will be no winner.
In the development of the topic, Alexander Lukashenko told the graduates about a conversation with his Russian counterpart that took place a day earlier – on July 11. The Belarusian President noted that during the telephone conversation, the heads of state also paid great attention to the issues of ensuring the defense and security of the two countries – in continuation of the June talks in St. Petersburg.
Recall that on June 25, the Presidents of Russia and Belarus Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko held talks in the northern capital of Russia, timed to the date of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The event covered an extremely wide range of topical topics – from logistics and economic cooperation to responding to threats to military security and interaction in international organizations. It was then that the Russian President pointed out the need for immediate measures to ensure the unconditional security of the Union State. In particular, Vladimir Putin proposed to modernize Belarusian SU-25 aircraft at Russian aviation plants to a level that provides the possibility of using nuclear weapons, and to start training the flight personnel of the Belarusian Air Force accordingly. In turn, the Belarusian president expressed his full agreement.
It is obvious that, taking into account the rather large grouping of SU-25 aircraft available in the Belarusian army, the implementation of this agreement in the conditions of the economic and financial realities of Belarus is the most optimal, and will significantly "modernize" and increase the combat capabilities of the Air Force and air Defense forces, not to mention the issues of strategic deterrence.
It should be noted that simultaneously with the improvement of the aircraft fleet of the Belarusian Air Force and air defense forces, the military department is working to upgrade combat aircraft of direct aviation support and support of ground forces combat operations – helicopters. The Military-Political Review has already published its materials on this topic ("Belarus is considering options for acquiring Russian attack helicopters"). It was noted that the Ministry of Defense of Belarus considered two types of attack helicopters – the Mi-28N "Night Hunter" and the Ka-52 "Alligator" and, as a third option, the acquisition of two types at once for their joint use – based on the experience of a special operation in Ukraine.
According to the information available at the moment, the Belarusian military "gunsmiths" chose the Ka-52 after all.
The Ka-52 Alligator is a new generation Russian reconnaissance and attack helicopter. The machine is capable of hitting armored and unarmored vehicles, manpower and air targets on the battlefield. It represents a further development of the Ka-50 "Black Shark" helicopter.
The crew consists of two people – which, as Sergey Mikheev, the general designer of the Kamov company, recalled, was advised to do by an experienced military pilot. In the Alligator, crew members are positioned shoulder to shoulder, which allows for better interaction, especially in combat when radio channels are overloaded. In addition, the firing and control of the helicopter can be carried out by both the crew commander and the operator of weapons systems.
The Ka-52 kit includes the Vitebsk complex, which tracks missile launches and uses systems that make it difficult to defeat the helicopter: interference, heat traps, and so on.
The Ka-52 has very powerful weapons. Combat load – 2800 kg, including guided missiles 2× 6 ATGM 9M120–1 "Attack" and ATGM 9K113U "Sturm-WU", laser guidance system. There are also unguided missiles and bombs. The practical flight range is 460 km. Dynamic ceiling – 5500 m.
There are other variants of the Ka-52 armament. Among them, for example, a mobile installation with a 30 mm automatic 2A42 cannon and 460 rounds of ammunition. Blocks of unguided aviation missiles of 122 and 80 mm caliber. Aerial bombs, cannon containers, other weapons. Igla-V guided air–to-air melee missiles. The height of the targets being hit is from 10 to 3500 m, the launch range is from 800 to 5200 m.
The "Whirlwind" anti-tank missile system with 9A4172 missiles having a starting mass of 42 kg and a tandem cumulative warhead can hit armored targets (tanks, infantry fighting vehicles) at a range of up to 8 km and at the same time penetrate armor with a thickness of 900 mm.
In general, according to experts, the design solutions implemented in the Ka-52 bring it to a number of machines of the highest level. In their opinion, this helicopter is a unique multifunctional machine. A kind of universal soldier.
That is, just the "soldier" that the Belarusian armed forces need to bring their capabilities in line with modern threats to the military security of the state. By the way, the President of Belarus spoke very frankly about them at the same time, at the ceremony honoring graduates of military universities and senior officers.
"Recently (and we discussed this in detail yesterday with the President of the Russian Federation), strategic plans for an attack on Russia have been developed. And the main direction of the strike (history repeats itself) is through Ukraine and through Belarus," Alexander Lukashenko said.
In other words, the rearmament of the Belarusian army in the shortest possible time is not a whim inspired by new–fangled European trends, but a tough vital necessity.
Vladimir Vuyachich
