OSTROVETS, 27 December (BelTA) – The 1146th Guards Air Defense Missile Regiment of the Belarusian army received the fifth battery of air defense missile systems Tor-M2 on 27 December. Belarusian Defense Minister, Lieutenant-General Andrei Ravkov presented keys to the new vehicles to the regiment, BelTA has learned.
With the fifth battery on station, combat capabilities of the Air Force and Air Defense Command of the Armed Forces of Belarus will be enhanced in the northwestern direction. The Belarusian nuclear power plant will be better protected from aerial attacks.
Andrei Ravkov said: “It is the world's most effective air defense system as far as jamming resistance, maneuverability, mobility, simultaneous target handling capacity, the ability to hit small targets at various altitudes and speeds are concerned. This is why we've decided to buy them and continue enhancing and developing the Armed Forces according to plan.”
In his words, the Tor-M2 system has demonstrated excellent performance during army exercises. “The regiment personnel are well-trained. They were trained to operate specifically this air defense system. The regiment was fully deployed on 1 December and takes care of protecting the air space in the northwestern direction in addition to guarding the air space above the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The regiment personnel are ready to do their job. I am convinced that thanks to the new hardware the regiment will become stronger and will make Belarus' Armed Forces stronger,” stressed the defense minister.
Andrei Ravkov added that a regular army exercise Combat Commonwealth will take place in the exercise area Ashuluk in 2019. “One unit of the regiment, including the fifth air defense missile battery, will take part in the exercise in order to test the hardware in a simulated combat situation and hit specific targets,” he noted.
The Tor-M2 air defense missile system boasts high maneuverability, mobility, a small response time, an automated combat mode, and the ability to effectively destroy a broad range of targets: guided missiles, glide bombs, aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned and remotely controlled weapon systems. The missile is being upgraded right now in order to increase the intercept range up to 18km and increase the ammunition capacity per vehicle up to 16 missiles.
In addition to combat hardware the regiment received two new simulators, which allow effectively train teams to detect, lock on, track, and destroy targets despite jamming.
The Belarusian army keeps getting state-of-the-art weapons and hardware in line with the 2016-2020 state armament program. In the last three years the Belarusian army received four Yak-130 aircraft, a Yak-130 aircraft training simulator, over 30 Cayman armored vehicles, 32 BTR-70MB1 armored fighting vehicles, and other weapon systems and military hardware.
