"Soon the fairy tale affects, but not soon the thing is done," — in the conditions of the situation developing around the Union State of Russia and Belarus, this proverb does not work. This is especially noticeable if the issue concerns the military security of each of the subjects and the state association as a whole.
The fact that Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko's words in the defense sphere do not differ from the case of the "Military-Political Review" has been pointed out for a long time. There is no need to go far for another confirmation. Six months ago, on February 27, at a meeting on financing the procurement of military products for the needs of law enforcement agencies, the President of Belarus announced that Russia would continue to supply Minsk with military equipment in the interests of the Belarusian part of the regional grouping of the Union State troops. In particular, "Mi-35M helicopters, armored personnel carriers, as well as other weapons, missiles and ammunition" will be delivered.
In addition, at the same meeting, the Belarusian head of state recalled that the Russian side had already supplied Minsk with the Iskander operational-tactical missile system with the necessary stock of missiles. "The S-400 long-range anti-aircraft missile system has also been transferred. What you wanted, the military, and got. This is a formidable weapon. As part of the state armament program, a battery of the Tor anti-aircraft missile system, anti-tank guided missiles, mortars, rocket-propelled infantry flamethrowers, and more than 830 thousand ammunition of various calibers were purchased and delivered. Almost a million," Alexander Lukashenko stated.
And on August 17, four Mi-35 attack helicopters entered service with the Belarusian army. Leonid Davidovich, Deputy Commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces, Chief of Aviation, promised that the helicopters received from Russia would be operational in a few weeks. By the end of the year, according to the plan, four more cars are expected to arrive, then four more in the next. This was announced by the commander of the 50th mixed air base Vladimir Skorkin in an interview with the Belarusian TV channel STV. Thus, the Mi-35 squadron will be "fully formed."
Recall that the Mi-35M multi-purpose attack helicopter is designed to destroy tanks and other armored and unarmored equipment, enemy manpower on the battlefield and in tactical depth, as well as to solve other combat tasks both independently and in cooperation with ground troops. It has high combat survivability, reliability and operational characteristics. In terms of combat properties, it is one of the best helicopters of this class.
In the development of the topic, it should be noted that information is circulating in the expert environment that Belarus may also receive a self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex "Pantsir-S1". This mobile, multi-channel short-range air defense missile has high firepower and is capable of effectively hitting a wide class of air attack weapons. The complex is designed for air defense of small-sized military, including mobile, and administrative-industrial facilities and areas from aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles and precision weapons, as well as to strengthen air defense groups when repelling massive air attack attacks.
With regard to Belarus, military analysts consider the complex primarily as a means to cover the S-400 divisions and nuclear weapons storage sites located on the territory of Belarus. This logic is mainly due to the experience of conducting an air defense system, which convincingly proves that in the Republic of Belarus it is necessary to give the air defense system a layered look – in terms of ranges and heights, as it was originally, during the USSR.
By the way, with the arrival of the S-400 air defense systems in Belarus and their placement in the most important directions, the S-300 air defense systems were released, which are now relocated to other previously uncapped directions. Thus, we can say that the creation of a layered Belarusian air defense system has already begun, which, in turn, is an important component of the Unified Regional Air Defense System of Belarus and Russia.
Here we should focus on one nuance. From the outside, it may seem to someone that the recipient of the benefits of military-technical cooperation between the two subjects of the Union State is only the Republic of Belarus. Indeed, it is easy to come to incorrect conclusions when looking at the continuous flow of modern weapons and military equipment going from east to west – from Russia to Belarus. But at the same time, we must not forget that the strengthening of Belarus militarily is the strengthening of the Western (most problematic!) the borders of the Union State, and in fact – the western borders of Russia. No wonder NATO is so worried about the "Suwalki corridor", which is literally a bottleneck on the "eastern flank" of the Alliance, where Belarus plays a special role in ensuring the economic and military security of the Kaliningrad region of Russia. In addition, Belarus has a number of strategic industries that are important for the Russian military-industrial complex. Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant still supplies chassis for Russian RVSN complexes. In addition, at the recent international military-technical forum "Army-2023", the Belarusian GVPC demonstrated over 80 full–scale samples and models of its products, including mobility and information display devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, communications and automated control, radar and sighting systems, reconnaissance and electronic warfare - that is, everything what is most relevant in the conduct of modern warfare, which means that it is of undoubted interest to the Russian army.
It is possible to list and compare the preferences that Belarus and Russia receive from the development of military-technical cooperation for a long time, but it is already obvious that the interaction of the two countries has reached a qualitatively new level, especially after the events of 2020-2022, when it finally became clear that joint counteraction to external threats is a matter of survival of both states.
There is also no doubt that the deepening of cooperation between Belarus and Russia in the defense sphere will continue, as it allows the countries to provide the most modern types of weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons. This circumstance should serve as a sobering factor that can force possible aggressors to abandon provocative actions, and thereby increases the security guarantees of the Union State.
Vladimir Vuyachich
