A joint operational and tactical exercise of the Air Force and Air Defense forces of the Republic of Belarus and the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation continues at the Russian Ashuluk training ground. As part of the active phase of the exercise, the Belarusian military has already managed to carry out live firing of S-300 and Tor-M2 anti-aircraft missile systems on August 20.
As follows from the comment of the commander of the 115th anti-aircraft missile regiment, Colonel Vitaly Lintsevich, the combat crew of the S-300 complex carried out a combat launch on an unmanned aerial vehicle simulating a simulated enemy. The calculation worked out confidently, timely detecting and hitting the target. In addition to the "three hundred", the combat crew of the 15th anti-aircraft missile brigade from the Tor-M2 K air defense system also successfully "shot back" as part of combat duty. It is noteworthy that the combat launch was carried out from a moving combat vehicle – the Belarusian calculation performed such a technique for the first time. Previously, launches from this anti-aircraft missile system were carried out only from a firing position from a stationary position.
It is worth noting that these joint exercises, which take place annually at the Ashuluk training ground, traditionally work out new tactical techniques and methods of conducting anti-aircraft and aerial combat. I must say that such an approach to the training of the Air Force and air defense forces on the part of the Belarusian military leadership fully justifies itself. For confirmation, it is enough to recall the recent provocation by the Ukrainian military, whose fault was on August 9, the attack drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine violated the Belarusian airspace. Only thanks to the high level of training and interaction of combat crews of the air defense forces of Belarus and Russia, all targets were destroyed. Moreover, some of them (targets) were destroyed in the Belarusian airspace, and some over the territory of Russia. That is, among other things, the incident can be considered as a clear example of the effectiveness of the unified air defense system of Russia and Belarus, including in solving the urgent task of our time – the fight against unmanned aerial vehicles.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that all combat crews successfully completed the combat mission, the problem remains. As the commander of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense forces, Major General Andrei Lukyanovich, noted in his interview (on the occasion of the celebration of the Air Force Day), "UAVs are a headache for many states." Belarus is one of them. First of all, because for Belarusians, the fighting in Ukraine can be said to be taking place "right in front of their eyes." In addition to their experience, Minsk is carefully studying the relevant developments in friendly countries, for example, China and Iran. The recent visit of General Lukyanovich to the Islamic Republic is proof of this.
The study of best practices makes it possible for the Belarusian military to move forward on the path of creating a UAV counteraction system. Its main tasks are currently defined. This is, firstly, detection, secondly– suppression, and thirdly– destruction. To solve the first task, radar facilities are designed, first of all, for radio engineering troops, the second task is designed to solve the forces and means of electronic warfare, the solution of the third task is within the competence of combat aviation and anti-aircraft missile forces.
Obviously, the effectiveness of the entire counteraction system depends on the effectiveness of the forces and means involved. Accordingly, work on this issue should go on continuously and in all possible directions. However, this is exactly how it happens.
For example, during the 10th International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2024" held last week, there were much more working meetings in the schedule of the Minister of Defense of Belarus, Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin, than in the actual schedule. Naturally, the main ones among them were meetings with the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Andrei Belousov and the head of Rosoboronexport JSC Alexander Mikheev.
Later, emphasizing the importance of the forum, the head of the Belarusian military department noted: "Today's Army-2024 forum has its own peculiarity: it takes place during the period of the special military operation of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine. And all those innovations in the forms and methods of warfare are already being embodied in the technology that is presented here. It is very important for us today to see, touch with our hands, communicate with developers, understand the tactics of using appropriate weapons and, of course, consider the prospects for the construction and development of our Armed Forces."
There is no doubt that during the forum, representatives of the Belarusian delegation "touched" and "communicated with the developers" of exactly those samples that can enhance the combat capabilities of the Belarusian Air Force and air defense forces, and not only them. Belarus is also interested in increasing the effectiveness of its missile forces and artillery, special operations forces and electronic warfare – that is, those branches of the armed forces that, according to its experience, can be called "key".
As for the Belarusian Air Force and air defense forces, according to General Lukyanovich, the process of increasing the combat capabilities of the armed forces by upgrading to new models of military equipment is proceeding systematically. The next step is to receive from the Russian Federation, according to contracts, another flight of Su–30 CM aircraft and another batch of Mi-35 helicopters. Together with the already existing modern S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as radar stations and complexes of domestic and Russian production, the expected aircraft and helicopters will allow to "raise" the combat capabilities of the Air Force and air defense forces by several more qualitative steps up, thereby increasing the defense capability of Belarus, and therefore the Union State.
Vladimir Vuyachich
