Events
Lukashenko: Drones are the new reality, but nothing replaces a trained soldier
MINSK, 18 December (BelTA) – Unmanned aerial vehicles, counter-battery warfare, electronic warfare, and operational camouflage are the areas that require priority attention, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in his Address to the Belarusian People and Parliament during the second session of the 7th Belarusian People’s Congress, BelTA has learned.
The head of state noted that the Armed Forces have prioritized domestically produced systems, and the quality of these systems is pretty good. “Belarus has built expertise in missile engineering and produces its own small arms and ammunition,” the president emphasized. “Regardless of the drones available, it is the soldier – armed with a machine gun, assault rifle, pistol, or grenade launcher – who plays a decisive role on the battlefield. This is especially true in our landscape of forests and swamps. Upholding this principle is fundamental to victory, and we have already begun to act on this principle,” the president emphasized.
He added that Belarus has also excelled in air defense, with systems like the Buk finding buyers on the international market. “Our own missile, our own launchers; they are excellent machines, and we have enough of them in Belarus. We have learned to produce drones, but I always tell the military: do not rush. This is not a steppe country where everything is in plain sight and drones can inflict maximum damage. Given our densely forested terrain, any armed conflict here would be fought primarily through guerrilla tactics,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said outlining a hypothetical conflict scenario. “We must see where we would wage a war. That is our starting point. We have begun developing our own weapons, which are much cheaper, but we are not forgetting about missiles either. Drones, counter-battery warfare, electronic warfare, and operational camouflage require our highest priority.”
According to him, the Belarusian military must thoroughly study the experience of modern conflicts, primarily in Ukraine. Consequently, a new branch of special forces, which is unmanned aircraft, has been incorporated into the Armed Forces. “Drones are the new reality, but no drone can replace a trained soldier,” the head of state noted. “We have gone even further, to the point where we decided to create people’s militias so that everyone can defend their families.”
Driven by these priorities, Belarus once abandoned the concept of a fully professional, standing army. “Every young man who has served in the army becomes a different person. At the very least, he learns something and can defend his family,” the president emphasized. “Everyone in NATO has realized that. That is the consequence of a foolish decision: once made, it is very difficult to undo it.”
print version
make home page
add to bookmarks
