MINSK, 10 May (BelTA) – Belarus did not make an error when it decided to develop by the Armed Forces by focusing on improving the special operations forces and mobility. Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin made the statement after the government conference hosted by the head of state to discuss state defense contracts, BelTA has learned.
Viktor Khrenin remarked that the Belarusian army is getting constantly improved and four stages of its reformatting have already been held. “The key is that we didn't make an error when we opted to focus on developing the special operations forces, on mobility in order to build and develop the Armed Forces,” he stressed.
In his words, the Defense Ministry is now studying tactics and actions of Russian and Ukrainian army units in detail. “We see what corrections need to be implemented primarily in the training of our units, what adjustments need to be made in working out an operational defense plan, and what weapons need more attention, what weapons need to be upgraded and acquired. We are now going to work on these three areas,” Viktor Khrenin said.
BelTA reported earlier that during the government conference held to discuss this year's state defense contracts Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that shifting the focus on increasing the mobility of Belarus' Armed Forces about ten years ago has been justified.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “I once again refer to lessons and experience of the Ukrainian conflict. I'd like to emphasize that T-72 tanks are very popular with the military. Our modernized tanks are a good weapon. As for lightly armored vehicles Cayman, you must remember that we'd decided in favor of making our army mobile after all. Ukraine's lesson once again. Mobile groups turned out to be most effective, including mobile groups of Ukraine's Armed Forces. They could unexpectedly and instantly approach the enemy, which massively outmatched them.”
The president continued that for that means of transportation are necessary in order to approach any location identified by the reconnaissance forces at night or within 2-3 hours and carry out a strike. Belarus' well-developed road infrastructure allows it. “In other words, we need mobile army units. And we have to focus on it. Certainly, S-400 air defense missile systems are a good thing as well as state-of-the-art aircraft and the rest. But a lesson has been learned. You can see that major highly technological forces such as the USA or NATO have a colossal potential and can destroy all kinds of airfields and the rest within 1-2 hours. Where will you land your aircraft then? Moreover, the survivability of these aircraft is next to nothing these days. This is why focus on mobility is unavoidable,” he stressed.
Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded he had convinced the army to follow this path about ten years before. “Today it turns out we were right. We've won in this regard. Our army of 65,000-70,000 people may seem small. It is very mobile. Surprise has always played an important role in any war. And you have to be mobile for that. This is how we built and rebuilt our Armed Forces, our army for the third time or the fourth time,” he said.
