Russia to Open Airbase in Belarus Within Months

Russia is opening an airbase in northwestern Belarus, near the Polish and Lithuanian borders, within just a few months, a Russian Air Force general said Wednesday. 

The airbase, modern Russia’s first on Belarusian soil, will consolidate bilateral defense collaboration as part of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, Russian Air Force chief Lieutenant General Viktor Bondarev told reporters.

Located in Lida, a city of nearly 100,000, the base will be an important element in the “strategic defense of the Union State,” the two-star general said, adding that Russian Su-27SM3 fighter jets would be stationed there.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in May that the base was not being set up in response to deployment of a US missile shield in Europe that has been strongly opposed by Russia.

However, Moscow has also taken issue with NATO jets flying combat air patrols close to Russian airspace. Belarus borders NATO nations Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.

Russia to Deploy Fighter Jets in Belarus - Defense Minister

Russia plans to base fighter jets at a military airbase in Belarus, with a first wing due to arrive there later this year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday. 

“In 2013 we will establish a military commandant’s office and provide a wing of combat fighters on alert duty,” he said, adding more jets could be based there later.

“We hope that an Air Force regiment will be here by 2015 to protect our borders,” he said.

Russia will also deliver four battalions of S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Belarus in 2014, Shoigu said. 

The decision to deliver the missiles was made at a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Shoigu said. 

Belarus borders NATO nations Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. NATO nations now fly combat air patrols from the Baltic states close to Russian airspace, an issue that has previously been viewed with concern in Moscow. 

The Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian-led military alliance of six former Soviet republics, plans to build an integrated air and missile defense system, the chief of the Russian military’s General Staff said in December. 

The CSTO's current members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Uzbekistan announced it had pulled out of the organization in 2012.

So far Russia has signed agreements on creation of joint regional air defense systems with Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Belarusian companies are serving Iran and Syria’s air defense

Belarusian enterprises are assisting a number of Middle East countries in modernizing the air defense equipment.

In the height of discussions in the West about a possible air strike at Iranian nuclear facilities, there are messages in the local media that the country is enforcing the strength of its air defense.

As an Iranian news agency Pars has recently reported referring to the commander of the air defense military base Khatam ol-Anbia brigadier general Farzasad Esmayili, the specialists have reached great success in modernizing the anti-aircraft missile systems S-200 with which the Iranian air defense is equipped.

We would note that Tehran has purchased around ten S-200VE Vega-E of Soviet engineering backin the end of 1980-ies – beginning of 1990-ies.

Earlier, in July 2011, Esmayili told journalists, that the Iranian variant of the system overwhelmed Russian experts. And the testing carried out in November confirmed the tactic and technical characteristics stated in the program of modernization.

In the context it is probably worth reminding that the anti-aircraft missile systems S-200 is a long-range system of missiles. In every division there are six launchers with a single-rail runner (for a single missile) and a radiolocation station of fire management and also a trail of supporting machines.

Every missile is equipped with four solid-rocket boosters which are place at the body of the cruise engine. The maximum range that it reaches is 200-350 km depending on the version.

In the instrument complex of the missile there is equipment that ensures radio correction at the middle section of the trajectory and s semi-active radiolocation target seeker warhead, which is active in the final section of the trajectory.

These anti-aircraft missile systems were developed in the 1970-ies specially for fighting strategic and remote bomber planes, airborne early warning and control and other similar targets. However even now not they pose a serious threat for the aviation of a potential enemy, especially after having been modernized. That is admitted by NATO experts as well.

According to some information, the effectiveness and interference protection of the S-200 were proven in the course of the US’ operation against Libya “Fire in the prairie” (1986) and a bit earlier in Syria (1982).

In the meanwhile a number of experts in air defense (including Russian ones) are sure that Iranians are not capable of modernizing such a complex weapon system themselves, improving its combat  and operational properties. It could have hardly been done without the assistance of specialists from the former Soviet republics.  

Some analysts name the private Belarusian enterprise Tetrahedron, founded in 2001 and specializing in modernization of Soviet anti-aircraft complexes, as a possible developer and executor of the S-200 modernization program. The enterprise has a license allowing independent foreign trade along the lines of military and technical cooperation of Belarus with foreign states.

The Tetrahedron’s modernization programs are mainly connected with the application of two methods of aiming for anti-aircraft guided missiles developed by the company. Introduction of these methods does not require any significant hardware debugging and only the algorithms for command generation are altered.

By the way, back in 2003 the Tetrahedron did overpatching for S-200 Vega for Belarusian military.

Now this company is offering modernization of the anti-aircraft S-200VE via introduction of the equipment developed in the basis of the latest achievements in the sphere of signal processing, digital techniques and newest technologies. At the same time the overmatching of S-200 can be carried out in the places of a client’s permanent location.

Apart from that the enterprise has technical capabilities for maintenance, recovery and overhaul-period renewal for anti-aircraft 5V28E, which are used for S-200VE.

Speaking about modernization according to such a project, analysts, apart from Iran name North Korea and Syria –countries having S-200VE in the inventory - as potential Tetrahedron’s clients. Syria must be especially interested in upgrading its far-reaching anti-aircraft facilities (there are around eight of those) as lately calls for external intervention into the Syrian conflict have been being voiced more and more often.

By the way, Tetrahedron is capable of helping Damascus to modernize the old Soviet anti-aircraft systems S-125 Neva and S-125M Pechora (the Syrians have around 60 of those according to some estimations). The company offers not a fundamental but a simplified (and respectively a cheaper) but at the same time very effective program of modernization, based on development of a new missile aiming system (the missile itself remains the same 5V27).

On account of such modernization the likelihood of a missile impact significantly increases, the damage area increases from 25 to 35 km, the missile guidance station becomes dual-link. An improved complex is capable of hitting modern small scale targets and air targets flying with the speed 900 m/s against 700 m/s as it was with the original anti-aircraft system S125.

The cost of modernization of S-125 according to that program, named Pechora-2T, is the lowest on the market and according to estimations costs only a million dollars for a complex.

The Tetrahedron, in experts’ opinion, is not the only Belarusian enterprise, working for the Middle East market for Soviet air defense modernization services. Some specialists assume that the recent upgrade of 48 Syrian anti-aircraft systems Buk was carried out with the assistance of the Belarusian enterprise Alevkurp. It is one of the developers of the modernization program for anti-aircraft systems Buk – Buk-MB.

Belarus awaiting explanation on "teddy bear" invasion

Belarus security officials say they are still waiting for the results of an inquiry into an incident involving an aircraft that entered Belarus airspace via Lithuania on July 4th and scattered hundreds of stuffed bears bearing messages.

"There have been no changes so far in terms of receiving any new information from Lithuania about the investigation of this matter," KGB spokesman Alexander Antonovich told Interfax on Wednesday.

Relations between Minsk and Stockholm deteriorated after the incident, when a light aircraft crossed into Belarus and dropped hundreds of teddy-bears.

The toys carried slogans urging Minsk to show more respect for freedom of speech and democracy.

The plane, which had been chartered by a Swedish PR firm, evaded Belarus air defenses after making their drop over the capital of Minsk.

The incident represented a major embarrassment for President Alexander Lukashenko and led to dismissals at the top of the country’s Air Force and State Border Guard.

Early last month, Belarus' Office of the Prosecutor General asked Lithuania and Sweden to help investigate the incident, Antonovich said.

The chairman of the security and defense committee of the Lithuanian Parliament, Arvydas Anusauskas, said Lithuania was investigating the incident and would produce its findings before the end of September.

Minsk invited the three Swedes who organized the flight to Belarus for an interview with investigators. The men flatly refused.

If the perpetrators of this incident hoped they would make a difference in Belarus’s parliamentary elections, they were mistaken.

Lukashenko on Sunday received an overwhelming show of support in parliamentary elections as an absolute majority of candidates loyal to his policies won seats in the National Assembly.

Alexander Lukashenko has served as President of Belarus since 1994.

EU components used in Belarus spy drones, NGO says

A German-based firm has said that some of its engines may have been used for Belarus spy drones despite EU sanctions.

The company, 3W Modellmotoren in Rodermark in southwest Germany, which makes stroke engines for small airplanes, told EUobserver on Monday (10 September) that dealers might have sold some of its technology for use in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) belonging to Belarus' interior ministry.

"You know it could very well be that they [Belarus] got engines from one of our dealers around the world. You never know what they [dealers] do," 3W Modellmotoren managing director, Peter Wintrich, said.

He explained the firm does not sell to Belarus directly, but noted that his company has "no control" over resellers. The firm has dealers in 43 countries, three of them based in Russia.

"You can use any of our engines for UAVs," he noted.

Its top of the line 3W engine comes with a €8,400 price tag.

The State Military Industrial Committee of Belarus conducted a number UAV tests over the summer in Minsk using the 3W Modellmotoren equipment, according to the Hague-based NGO Belarus Tribunal in a report issued on Sunday.

The NGO is alarmed that state authorities might mount video surveillance equipment on the drones to monitor demonstrations and track dissidents.

Belarus Tribunal says the UAVs could also disperse crowds by dropping tear gas.

Production of the vehicles was announced in August by the director general of Minsk Aircraft Overhaul Plant.

The aviation firm told Belarussian Telegraph Agency, a state-run media outlet, that it will produce at least 10 every year starting in 2013.

It described the vehicles as gas-pistoned engines with a 240-km range and top speeds of around 200 km/hr. It said Belarus' defence ministry, the interior ministry and the emergencies ministry are its primary clients.

EU pistols in the wrong place?

Belarus Tribunal also claims that Austrian, German and Swiss-made small arms have been sold and distributed to the third special brigade in Belarus' interior ministry.

The brigade, whose officers now allegedly carry the EU-manufactured pistols, is tasked with breaking up "illegal" demonstrations and was instrumental in the violent crackdown after elections in December 2010, which prompted the EU arms embargo in the first place.

Hundreds of people, including presidential candidates, were beaten. Dozens were detained in pre-trial prisons and interrogated, prompting wide international condemnation.

The NGO says the guns were sold in September and October of last year, after the EU ban was already in place.

An additional embargo, issued in June 2011 by the European Council, included the ban on the sale and distribution of any products such as a firearms, explosives, grenades, ammunition, technology and hardware that can be used for internal repression.

The June ruling also froze the assets of three Belarus companies, including weapons exporter Beltechexport, run by Vladimir Peftiev, a key sponsor of the Lukashenko regime.

Belarus Tribunal claims these arms sanctions are now proving ineffective.

"According to information obtained by our organisation, the brigade's firearms were successfully rearmed, despite the standing embargo from the EU. For example, the firearms that are used by the brigade include guns produced by Glock [Austria] and SIG Sauer [Switzerland-Germany]," it said in its report.

Both Glock and SIG Sauer manufacture and sell small arms to police and military forces around the world. Glock declined to comment on the case by telephone and SIG Sauer was not reached in time.

For his part, Igor Makar, an exiled Belarus spetnaz offcier, told EUobserver by email that he is not aware of any EU-made weapons being used by Belarus authorities.

"Maybe these guns arrived in Belarus from the EU. Maybe they were sold to Belarus via third countries," Makar said.

He noted that the Belarus state-run media group ONT said in a recent TV report that Belarus internal security forces had made a purchase of Swiss-German weapons six months ago.

The Belarus Tribunal document depicts snap shot images of a Sig Sauer P226 pistol taken from the ONT report.

The EU said it is not aware of any clear breach of the Belarus sanctions by any EU-based companies.

"There are many attempts in particular towards the people who are targeted to try and get themselves off the list with various degrees of success. But I'm not aware of any proven case of the breach of sanctions recently," said EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic, referring to lawsuits by EU-blacklisted Belarus citizens in the EU court in Luxembourg.

Belarus - Military aircraft flights resume

Military aircraft flights that were suspended following the June 12 crash of a Su-25 ground attack plane in the Hrodna region were resumed on Thursday.

However, only the aircraft that will be involved in the July 3 Independence Day parade in Minsk are now allowed to fly, whereas the other aircraft still remain grounded, Colonel Uladzimir Makaraw, spokesman for the defense ministry’s Main Ideology Directorate, told BelaPAN.

The Independence Day parade is expected to feature Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters of the 50th Composed Air Base in Machulischy near Minsk and the 181st Combat Helicopter Base in Pruzhany, Brest region; three Mi-2 helicopters of the Voluntary Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation and Fleet; Su-27 and MiG-29 fighters of the 61st Fighter Base in Baranavichy, Brest region; and Su-25 ground attack aircraft of the 206th Attack Air Base in Lida, Hrodna region.

Dress rehearsals for the flyovers are scheduled to take place on June 27 and June 29.

Unlike in previous years, Su-24 bombers, which have recently been retired, L-39 jet trainers and an Il-36 airlifter will not be involved in the parade.

The Su-25 ground attack plane that crashed in the Navahrudak district on June 12 belonged to the 116th Air Base in Lida. The pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Mikalay Hrydnew, was killed in the crash.

Five pilots of the Belarusian Air and Air Defense Force have been killed and four warplanes have been lost in accidents since mid-2009

Lavrov Squeaks - Moscow urges uniform OSCE election monitoring rules

Members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should introduce “generally acceptable” and clear regulations for election observation, says Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is in charge of vote monitoring and currently lacks any clear rules “that would be based on uniform criteria rather than double standards, as is not the case,” Lavrov pointed out.

“Unfortunately, our Western partners flatly refuse to discuss such rules,” he told journalists. (SW -  This from a man who completely ignores Human Rights in his own country, suppresses Freedom of Speech,  supports Syrian State terrorism,  accepts Putin as President in a 'fixed election, is Putin's babbling mouthpiece and dares to  preach to the West)

Many OSCE member states “have ignored their obligation to incorporate the provision obliging them to invite international observers to monitor elections into their national legislation,” he said, as cited by RIA Novosti.

“We have done this and expect the same from our partners,” the Minister stressed.

"The OSCE has a CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] proposal that was actively co-authored by Russia and Belarus that suggests approving basic principles of monitoring national elections in the OSCE member states," he said.

Moscow and Belarus are going to push for the OSCE monitoring system reform at the upcoming seminars and meeting between the members of the organization.

“Right now there is only one obligation in force: to invite international observers, as we do. As to how many, on what grounds and how the election monitoring should be organized – all these issues have yet to be agreed. So far, not such agreement has been reached in the OSCE and unfortunately its achievement has been blocked by Western countries,” Lavrov said.