World news

A comprehensive review of the Armed Forces has kicked off in Belarus following the corresponding decision of Defense Minister Andrei Ravkov.

The events will be supervised by head of the Armed Forces General Staff, First Deputy Defense Minister Oleg Belokonev.

Some military units and subdivisions have already been given a standby order.

The review will assess the readiness and capability of performing the corresponding tasks by both military units and subdivisions as well as all associated subsystems, including administrative and technical support services.

Major efforts will be focused on full and timely overall support of military units and subdivisions in permanent dispositions and areas of military training missions.

The review will be wrapped up with tactical exercises and field firing.

On the 1^st of December the Baranovichi61^st fighter air basereceived 10 overhauled MiG-29 aircraft.

Out of the 10 received MiG-29s eight aircraft are of combat type and two of them  areof combat-training type.

The mentioned MiGs were sent for overhaul to the JSC“558 ARP”, Baranovichi, in April 2014. During the overhaul serviceability of the aircraft equipment was recovered and its service life extended. The aircraft were equipped with the flight parameters video registering systems which heighten the accuracy of flight datarecording.

Being a guard of the Western borders of the Republic of Belarus the personnel of the air base has been mastering the MiG-29 aircraft since 1993. TheJSC “558 ARP” also carries out works on modernization of the mentioned aircraft. The modernized aircraft are assigned the name MiG-29BM. Piloting the modernized aircraft Belarusian pilots have set 15 world records on climb speed and on speed of closed-loop flight.

In the near future the Belarusian army will officially deploy the Yak-130 aircraft that have already been mastered by the Air Force, learned from Major-General Oleg Dvigalev, Chief of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense, on 20 October.

“The order on passing into service the Yak-130 aircraft will be signed soon,” said the Chief of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense.

Oleg Dvigalev reminded that Russia had recently prepared four flight instructors to teach Belarusian pilots how to fly the Yak-130 aircraft. Belarusian pilots are busy mastering four Yak-130 aircraft now. Another four aircraft will be delivered in H2 2016. The Belarusian pilots have mastered the use of all the available weapons, including guided bombs. During a recent army exercise the pilots used Yak-130's equipment to give targeting solutions to Su-25 attack aircraft. The army was satisfied with this application of the aircraft.

 According to Arkady Gurtovoi, Deputy Director of the Marketing and External Relations Division of the Russian corporation Irkut, the Yak-130 model is quite a successful combat and training aircraft. Its modifications are now manufactured not only in Russia. For instance, Italy offers the M-346 variant while China makes the L-15 one. The aircraft's open architecture allows training pilots using virtually any type of aircraft instead of only Su and MiG brands. Apart from that, the initial training aircraft Yak-52 followed by Yak-152 in the near future is necessary for training future pilots of the Yak-130 aircraft.

In turn, Ivan Dyrman, head of DOSAAF (a non-governmental organization that supports the army, aviation and the navy), noted that training military pilots is an important area of work that allows bolstering the security of Belarus and the Union State of Belarus and Russia.

During Russia Arms Expo — 2015, that took place in Nizhny Tagil, in September 2015, Belarusian military officials have signed a purchase contract for BTR-82A armored vehicles.

Fact of the deal was recognized by Armed Forces, without specification of the contract volume.

BTR-82А is an in-depth modernization of the 80-th model.

Endurance of the modernized armored vehicle has been increased by 20%, the turret was replaced by a combat unit with electro drives and digital bi-plane armament stabilizer and 30-mm automatic gun. A number of other improvements have been made. As a result combat efficiency of BTR-82A has doubled in comparison with BTR-80.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry intends to replace the MiG-29 fighter jets with Su-30SM after 2020, learned from Major-General Oleg Dvigalev, Chief of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense, on 20 October.

The official said: “Naturally the existing aviation fleet, particularly fighter jets MiG-29, is getting outdated. It is time to decide on replacing these aircraft. We are considering buying Su-30SM aircraft from Irkut Corporation. It may be done after 2020.”

The Su-30SM jet fighter stems from the Su-37UB model. They are now used by the Russian Air Force and the Russian Navy. These aircraft can carry guided missiles, dumb bombs and other kinds of weapons. The crew comprises two people. The aircraft can fly as far as 3,000km, with the combat radius of 1,500km. The aircraft can stay in the air without refueling for 3.5 hours. Representatives of the Belarusian Air Force tested the aircraft during the air show MAKS 2015 and positively appreciated its qualities.

Oleg Dvigalev reminded that the Belarusian side had signed the contract to buy 12 Mi-8MTV-5 helicopters. He specified that six helicopters will be delivered in 2016 and another six will be delivered in 2017. Meanwhile, the Belarusian army continues repairing and modernizing the available hardware. For instance, a military transport aircraft IL-76 is now being repaired in Ryazan.

The multipurpose helicopter Mi-8MTV-5 represents a profoundly modernized variant of the Mi-8MTV-1 helicopter. The new vehicle can airlift army units at any time of the day and night while providing aerial cover. The helicopter can mount 23mm cannons or can carry up to two tonnes of bombs. The cruising speed is 230kmph, with the flying range of 590km. The helicopter can carry up to four tonnes of cargo in the cabin and up to five tonnes as external loadout.

On 20 October the Chief of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense talked to representatives of Irkut Corporation and DOSAAF (a non-governmental organization that supports the army, aviation and the navy). In particular, Oleg Dvigalev noted that the Air Force is satisfied with the pilot training standards that DOSAAF flying schools provide. He underlined that the contract on delivering Yak-130 aircraft to Belarus had been signed thanks to the DOSAAF head.