Russia still has no plans to supply Iskander-M missile system to Belarus - military-technical cooperation service
MINSK. May 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia so far plans no supplies of Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile system to Belarus, Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation head Dmitry Shugayev told Interfax-AVN on Sunday.
"At the time the Belarusian side has filed no official requests for buying aforementioned complexes," he said at the 8th international arms and military equipment exhibition MILEX-2017.
Belarus has purchased S-300 surface-to-air missile systems and several Iskander batteries in Russia, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said in an interview with the Polish paper Rzeczpospolita in October 2016.
"We have bought S-300 from our ally [Russia], with which we should jointly ensure security and tackle external threats. We have purchased these S-300 systems at the concrete price; they are deployed in Belarus and are on combat duty. [...] We have bought several Iskander batteries for the same air defense system,
but all this is within the framework of military-technical cooperation between Belarus and Russia. These are Belarusian, rather than Russian systems. The systems, with which the Belarusian armed forces are armed," Makei said.
Russia has delivered four surface-to-air missile divisions to the republic free of charge, Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Forces Commander Oleg Dvigalev told reporters in May 2016. "Alongside, three of them have been overhauled in Russia and one of them directly in Belarus," he said.
The Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile system is designed and produced at the Kolomna-based Mashinostroyeniya design bureau, a part of the High-Precision Complexes holding. According to open sources, the flight range of a ballistic missile of this complex reaches 500 kilometers.
According to available data, the Russian Ground Troops' missile formations are being rearmed with Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile systems.
According to the current practice, in efforts to fully equip the Russian Armed Forces with the relevant military hardware their analogues are not supplied to foreign countries.