Lukashenko: Belarus keeps tabs on defense industry given modern threats

Given the present level of threats against Belarus we keep close tabs on the domestic military and industrial production, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a government meeting to discuss the financing of military-related procurement, BelTA has learned. “Today we will discuss the issues related to the financing of military-related procurement for the needs of law enforcement agencies. Given the present level of threats against Belarus we keep close tabs on the domestic military and industrial production. I would like to stress that despite the unprecedented sanctions we are still able to produce enough weapons and military equipment for the needs of the Belarusian army,” the head of state said. “We easily get everything we need (I mean hardware) from Russia. As for microelectronics, optics, other things, we need to thank those who have preserved the technologies we inherited from the Soviet Union, thus together with Russia we can produce any type of weapons,” he added.

Belarus can export these products to 57 countries, which it actually does, the president said. “We have been successfully developing modern weapons not only in the areas where we have scientific and technological capabilities and expertise. We are also mastering new areas that are in demand today, including such as missiles and large caliber artillery ammunition,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. According to him, a lineup of unmanned aerial vehicles, developed in Belarus, was presented at Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground in October 2022. “The Armed Forces successfully demonstrated their combat capabilities during that event,” the head of state said. He added, however, that there was still need to further work on modern strike drones in Belarus.