The joint air defense system of Russia and Belarus faces its first serious test
During the Allied Resolve 2022 exercise, which will take place from February 10 to 20, the air defense forces of Russia and Belarus will be seriously tested.
Izvestia writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, citing its sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense.
It is noted that during the practical exercises, Russian and Belarusian anti-aircraft gunners will engage in the fight against cruise and hypersonic missiles, stealth aircraft and drones, and repelling massive raids by a mock enemy. The mobile reserve includes Pantsir-S anti-aircraft systems.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense reported that as part of testing the response forces of the Union State, two divisions of long-range S-400 air defense systems from the Khabarovsk Territory would be sent to Belarus to strengthen the unified air defense system. And already on January 29, a division of Pantsir-S missile and gun systems arrived at one of the training grounds from the Far East.
Former deputy commander-in-chief of the Air Force for the Unified Air Defense System of the CIS, Aitech Bizhev, said that in addition to anti-aircraft missile systems, the unified air defense system also includes fighter aircraft.
“We have been moving towards this for a long time, even through the CIS unified air defense system. Now this has taken place, decrees of the presidents of Russia and Belarus have been signed. A legal framework has been created, manuals and guidance documents have been written. And so the system was worked out in practice, as it would be in real life. The exercises will be analyzed and the results will be summed up,” the general said.
According to him, a unified system means that certain forces and assets will be transferred either to Belarus or to Russian territory.
“Both a Belarusian and a Russian representative can lead these forces. The Belarusians and I work according to the same standards, we have the same weapons systems, military educational institutions, and specialist training programs. We understand each other,” Bizhev emphasized.
In turn, the president of the Center for Strategic Communications, Dmitry Abzalov, says that strengthening the air defense group in Belarus can seriously relieve the burden on the western direction.
“The creation of a Unified Air Defense System was the most important area of our integration. Now, against the backdrop of worsening relations with the European Union, Belarus faces real risks. The Baltic states accuse Minsk of hostile actions, have blocked transit and are increasing NATO troops on their territory. The same situation is with Poland. Relations with Ukraine are complicated. All this makes the deployment of a unified air defense system especially relevant,” Abzalov is convinced.
He believes that in the future, on the basis of the Russian-Belarusian one, a unified CSTO missile defense and air defense system can be built.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.