On October 29, a regular joint meeting of the Collegium of the Ministries of Defense of Russia and Belarus took place. One of the results of this event was the statements of the head of the Russian military department S. Shoigu concerning the development of a unified regional air defense system. In order to increase the potential of the Belarusian air defense, Russia intends to transfer four S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to it.
The future transfer of anti-aircraft systems will be carried out in accordance with the current program for creating a unified air defense system. In 2009, Russia and Belarus signed an agreement, according to which both countries must build a common system to protect their airspace. The construction of a unified regional air defense system is carried out on the basis of the existing units of the two armies. Over the past years, the possibility of transferring or selling new Russian anti-aircraft systems to Belarus has been repeatedly discussed, which will help update its air defense system, as well as provide it with maximum combat capabilities. For example, it was previously stated that the Belarusian military could receive several divisions armed with the latest S-400 air defense systems. Nevertheless, as follows from the latest news, Belarus will still use the systems of previous models.
In February 2009, when the two countries signed an agreement on the creation of a unified regional air defense system, it was argued that the protection of the airspace of Russia and Belarus would be carried out by five military units from the Air Force, ten anti-aircraft missile units, five radio-technical and one electronic warfare unit. In the spring of 2012, there were reports that by the beginning of 2013 the Russian and Belarusian armed forces would complete the creation of a digital air defense control system. At the same time, the first information about the organization of the control system appeared. As stated, the control system should work in an automated mode under the control of the joint command. To speed up and simplify combat work, the decision to attack a target should be made by the command post that was the first to receive information about it.
In the course of creating a unified regional air defense system, reports regularly appeared about military equipment planned for use. Thus, according to some sources, the issue of the possibility of supplying Belarus with the latest S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, which now serve only in the Russian armed forces, is ongoing. Earlier, there were reports that for the effective operation of a unified air defense system and protection against threats from the western direction, the Russian side needs to deploy at least 16 divisions of the S-400 air defense system. In addition, a number of these complexes can be deployed on Belarusian territory or even sold to a neighboring state.
At the moment, everything suggests that Russia does not intend to transfer or sell the latest anti-aircraft missile systems yet. At the same time, the Russian side is going to transfer four S-300 systems to the Belarusian military. A specific modification of this technique has not yet been reported. Most likely, Belarus will receive anti-aircraft systems of the latest modifications of the S-300P family.
As part of the creation of a common air defense system, Russia and Belarus are now preparing a new treaty, according to which a Russian air base will be located on Belarusian territory. Since 2015, a Russian fighter regiment will be on duty at the Soviet-era airbase in the city of Lida. The Belarusian side will be engaged in the arrangement of the base, and the Russian military will help it in this. According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force V. Bondarev, during the first time only Russian military personnel will serve at the base, but in the future, joint use of this facility is possible. At the same time, the first aircraft will be transferred to a new base by the end of this year.
The transfer of anti-aircraft missile systems to Belarus and the creation of an air base will significantly increase the capabilities of the unified air defense system and protect Russia from threats from the western direction. It is worth noting that Russia intends to cooperate in the field of air defense not only with Belarus. In January of this year, an agreement was signed with Kazakhstan. In accordance with this document, the Russian and Kazakh military will build another unified air defense system designed to protect the airspace of the two countries from attacks from the south.
In the future, it is expected to sign agreements with Armenia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Thanks to these documents, a single air defense zone should appear over the Commonwealth of Independent States, the protection of which will be taken care of by the military personnel of all countries. After the completion of the creation of regional air defense systems, the CIS countries will start building a common control system. The latter will allow combining the efforts of the created joint Western, Caucasian and Central Asian air defense systems.
