Belarusian Ground Forces

Belarusian Ground Forces
Сухопутные войска Республики Беларусь Сухапутныя войскі Рэспублікі Беларусь
Shoulder Patch of the Belarusian Ground Forces
Founded	20 March 1992
Country	Belarus
Branch	Armed Forces of Belarus
Type	Ground Force
Size	16,500 (2016)
Part of	Defence Ministry of Belarus
Headquarters	Minsk
Nickname(s)	Belarusian Land Forces Belarusian Army
Colors	Red
Anniversaries	February 23
Commanders
Commander-in-chief	Alexander Lukashenko
Insignia
Flag

The Belarusian Ground Forces is a service branch of the Armed Forces of Belarus. It is considered to be the seniormost and notable service branch in the armed forces.

History[]

The ground forces were founded on March 20, 1992, on the same day the Defence Ministry of Belarus was established. By 1994, the ground forces had over 50,000 troops, most being former soldiers of the Soviet Army's Belorussian Military District. The army equipment which was used at the time included 79 T-54s, 639 T-55s, 291 T-62s, 299 T-64s, 8 T-80s, and 1,800 T-72s. In December of 2001, the Ground Forces underwent a major reorganization which produced two operational-territorial commands which are similar to Russia's military districts. The two commands that were formed from this reorganization were the Western Operational Command at Grodno, and the North Western Operational Command, at Barysaw.^[1][2] At around the same time, the headquarters of the Ground Forces was established on the basis of the former 5th Guards Tank Army.^[3][4]

Structure[]

Headquarters (Minsk)[]

• Headquarters of the Armed Forces
• Exemplary Military Band
• Honor Guard of the Armed Forces of Belarus
• 465th Missile Brigade
• 336th Missile Artillery Brigade
• 51st Guards Mixed Artillery Group
• 188th Engineer Brigade
• 52nd Specialized Search Battalion
• Cynological Center of the Armed Forces

Western Operational Command[]

• 6th Guards Kiev-Berlin Mechanised Brigade
• 11th Guards Berlin-Carpathian Mechanised Brigade
• 111th Artillery Brigade
• 1199th Mixed Artillery Regiment
• 557th Engineering Brigade
• 74th Separate Communications Regiment
• 815th Maintenance Center
• 28th Storage Base
• 48th Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion
• 230th Combined-Arms Training Ground
• 117th Navigation and Topographic Unit
• 250th Separate Guard and Service Battalion
• 108th Material Support Brigade

North Western Operational Command[]

• 120th Mechanised Brigade
• 19th Guards Mechanized Brigade
• 231st Artillery Brigade
• 86th Communications Brigade
• 42nd Separate Radio Engineering Battalion
• 244th Center for Electronic Intelligence
• 7th Engineer Regiment
• 60th Separate Communications Regiment
• 814th Maintenance Center
• 34th Storage Base
• 37th Guards Weapons and Equipment Storage Base
• 110th Separate Logistics Regiment
• 10th Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion
• 227th Combined-Arms Training Ground
• 22nd Rocket Brigade (until 2005)
• 51st Guards Artillery Brigade
• 72nd Guards Joint Training Centre

Specialized forces[]

The specialized forces are designed to support the combat activities of the Ground Forces and solve their inherent tasks. They include formations and military units of intelligence, communications, engineering, radiation, chemical and biological defense, electronic warfare, navigation and topographic.^[5]

• Electronic Warfare Troops
• Signal Troops
• Engineer Troops
• NBC Protection Troops
• Topographic Navigation Service

Signals Troops[]

The Signal Troops are separate special forces that act as the communications system between troops in the Armed Forces and territorial troops. It is grounded in communications and command and control equipment, radio intelligence and special radio equipment communication. The official holiday of the Signal Troops is 20 October, which was the day in 1919 when the Department of Communications of the Red Army was formed. Over the course of post-war years, with the transition of the troops to a peaceful situation, the communications troops of the Belarusian Military District, and later the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, took measures to restore and develop the stationary communications system, deploy communication systems of garrisons and military camps, and conditions.^[6] In 2019, the Ministry of Communications and Informatization commemorated its centennial with a holiday stamp.^[7]

NBC Protection Troops[]

The Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops (Russian: Войска радиационной, химической и биологической защиты; Войска РХБ защиты)) are the forces designed to endure their combat tasks in conditions of radioactive, chemical and biological contamination, For about ten years, as part of a limited contingent of Soviet Army, chemical troops fought in Afghanistan, where such chemical support tasks as the use of flamethrowing incendiary agents and aerosols were effective in combating rebels. Many representatives of the chemical troops participating in the war were awarded military orders and medals. In the course of eliminating the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, given the training and technical equipment of the chemical forces, they were assigned some of the most difficult work. The Department of Chemical Forces was created on 1 June 1992 on the basis of the disbanded Directorate of the Belarusian Military District and was included in the General Staff of the Armed Forces. On 21 December 2001, in connection with the creation of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, the department of chemical forces of the Main Headquarters of the Armed Forces was reorganized and included in it as a department of the Republican Chemical Chemistry for Protection and Ecology of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.^[8]

Commanders of the Ground Forces[]

• Major General Alexander Nikitin (-17 April 2012)^[9]

Equipment[]

Model	Picture	Country of Origin	Type	Number in service	Notes
Tanks
T-72		Soviet Union	Main battle tank	532 (inc T-72B3)[10]	Mainly T-72B version. Four mechanized brigades.[11] At least 24 upgraded to the B3M level.[12][13][14][15][16]
Infantry vehicles
BMD-1		Soviet Union	Airborne infantry fighting vehicle	124 in 1995, 154 in 2000, 2003 and 2005.[17][18]
BMP-1		Soviet Union	Infantry fighting vehicle	132[19]	BRM-1 version
BMP-2		Soviet Union	Infantry fighting vehicle	932[19]	Operated by two mechanized brigades.[19]
Armored personnel carriers
BTR-70		Soviet Union	Armoured personnel carrier	39[11]	Used by the Special Forces of Belarus. Upgraded BTR-70MB1.
BTR-80		Soviet Union  Russia	Armoured personnel carrier	153[11]	Belarus signed a contract on two battalion sets of BTR-82A.[20] In Special Forces.
MT-LB		Soviet Union	Armoured personnel carrier	50[11]
Armored cars
BRDM-2		Soviet Union
Artillery
BM-21 Grad		Soviet Union  Belarus	Multiple rocket launcher	126[11]	Partially upgraded to BM-21A "Belgrad".
BM-27 Uragan		Soviet Union	Self-propelled artillery	72[11]	Partially upgraded to Uragan-M.[21]
BM-30 Smerch		Soviet Union	Multiple rocket launcher	36[11]
Polonez (MRL)		Belarus	Multiple rocket launcher	4[11]
OTR-21 Tochka		Soviet Union	Tactical ballistic missile	38[22]
Scud		Soviet Union	Tactical ballistic missile	60[11]
2S1 Gvozdika		Soviet Union	Self-propelled artillery	198[11]
2S3 Akatsiya		Soviet Union	Self-propelled artillery	108[11]
2S5 Giatsint-S		Soviet Union	Self-propelled artillery	116[11]
2S9 Nona		Soviet Union	Self propelled mortar	48[11]
2S19 Msta		Soviet Union	Self-propelled artillery	12[11]
122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30)		Soviet Union	122mm towed howitzer	48[11]
152 mm howitzer 2A65		Soviet Union	152 mm towed howitzer	48[11]
152 mm gun 2A36		Soviet Union	152 mm towed howitzer	132[11]
Air defence
2K22 Tunguska (SA-19 Grison)		Soviet Union	Tracked SPAAW	-
9K33 Osa (SA-8 Gecko)		Soviet Union	6×6 amphibious SAM system	24 batteries
9K35 Strela-10		Soviet Union	Vehicle-mounted SAM system	350
Tor missile system		Russia	Tracked SAM system	20 Tor-M2s	4 Tor-M2s ordered[23][24][25]
S-300PS (SA-10 Grumble) S-300V (SA-12 Giant/Gladiator)		Soviet Union  Russia	Long-range SAM system	12 12	S-300PS systems delivered from Russia in 2007 to replace older S-300 model in Belarusian inventory.[26] Four divisions of S-300 missiles to be delivered in 2014.[27]
9K37 Buk (SA-11 Gadfly)		Soviet Union	Medium range SAM system	12
S-400 missile system		Russia	Long-range mobile surface-to-air missile system	2 batteries	Announced their intentions to purchase the S-400 in September 2011.[28] 2 systems were delivered in 2016.[29][30][31]

References[]

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