Equipment
The military forces of Belarus are exclusively armed with Soviet-era equipment inherited from the Soviet Union. Although large in numbers, some Western experts consider some of it outdated. The MBTs are of Russian type T-72, T-62, and T-55, the AFVs are of Russian type MT-LB, BMP-2, BMP-1, and the BMD-1, and Russian type trucks are the GAZ-66 and the KAMAZ-6560. The Air Force is equipped with MiG-29 fighters, Su-25 bombers, as well as Mi-8, Mi-24, and some old, Polish built Mi-2 helicopters. In December 2005, Belarus bought 10 L-39C jet trainer aircraft from the Ukraine, and plans have been announced to buy around 18 used Su-30K fighters that were originally sent to India for a time. In 2006, four batteries (divizions in Russian terminology; about 6 systems each) of S-300 anti-aircraft systems were acquired from Russia to reinforce the Joint CIS Air Defense System.
| Name | Type | Country of origin | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-55 | Main Battle Tank | Soviet Union | 29 | In reserve. |
| T-62 | Main Battle Tank | Soviet Union | 170 | In reserve. |
| T-72 | Main Battle Tank | Soviet Union | 1,465 | Mainly T-72B version. |
| T-80 | Main Battle Tank | Soviet Union | 92 | |
| BMD-1 | Airborne Infantry Fighting Vehicle | Soviet Union | 154 | |
| BMP-1 | Infantry Fighting Vehicle | Soviet Union | 109 | |
| BMP-2 | Infantry Fighting Vehicle | Soviet Union | 1,164 | |
| BTR-60 | Armoured Personnel Carrier | Soviet Union | 188 | |
| BTR-70 | Armoured Personnel Carrier | Soviet Union | 446 | |
| BTR-80 | Armoured Personnel Carrier | Soviet Union | 194 | |
| MT-LB | Amphibious Tracked Armoured Carrier | Soviet Union | 66 |
Read more about this topic: Military History Of Belarus
Famous quotes containing the word equipment:
“Why not draft executive and management brains to prepare and produce the equipment the $21-a-month draftee must use and forget this dollar-a-year tommyrot? Would we send an army into the field under a dollar-a-year General who had to be home Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays?”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“Dr. Scofield’s equipment, which you have just seen, radiated waves direct to Professor Houghland’s laboratory. When these waves came in contact with those the professor’s equipment was radiating, they created the interstellar frequency, which is the death ray.”
—Joseph O’Donnell, and Clifford Sanforth. Arthur Perry (Bela Lugosi)
“Biological possibility and desire are not the same as biological need. Women have childbearing equipment. For them to choose not to use the equipment is no more blocking what is instinctive than it is for a man who, muscles or no, chooses not to be a weightlifter.”
—Betty Rollin (b. 1936)