March 27,
2008: Venezuela has hired Belarus to build an air defense system for them.
Belarus has the credentials. They still operate several of the Soviet era
air-defense schools, and many Soviet era air defense installations. Two years
ago, Belarus received 24 Russian S-300 missile systems. Roughly equivalent to
the U.S. Patriot, S-300 was known as the SA-10 to NATO, when the system first
appeared in the early 1980s. S-300 missiles weigh 1.8 tons each and are 26 feet
long and about 20 inches in diameter. The missiles have a range of some 200
kilometers and can hit targets as high as 100,000 feet. The missile has a 320
pound warhead. Belarus and Russia have integrated their air defenses, mainly to
give Russia more "depth" in case of an attack from the west.
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Of all the
former communist nations in Europe, Belarus is the only one still run by its
Soviet era officials. Basically it's a police state, and very tight with
Russia. In 2006, Venezuela said that it was interested in buying S-300 systems from
Russia. Venezuela has since ordered shorter range Tor M-1 system. Known to NATO
as the SA-15 Gauntlet, the Tor-M1Â has a
maximum range of 12 kilometers. It is only effective up to 6,000 meters
altitude. The system was designed as a successor to the SA-N-8 Gecko. Each
launcher carries eight missiles, and it is claimed to be capable of engaging
two targets simultaneously. The system was designed to be a tactical
battlefield air-defense system, designed to take out close-air-support planes
like the A-10 or tactical fighter-bombers like the F-4, F-16, and F-18.
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Now
Belarussians will help install and operate these missiles, along with the
communications systems needed to create a national air defense system.
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