Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized the importance and timeliness for launching ammunition production in the country as he paid a visit to an enterprise of the military-industrial complex in Minsk Oblast on 13 June, BelTA has learned.

The head of state was briefed on the launch of mass production of RS-122mm rockets in Belarus.

“They are very needed in the army,” the Belarusian leader said. Both high-precision modern weapons and simpler ones such as machine guns, and grenade launchers play an important role in combat operations. “Rockets, high-precision weapons, jets, helicopters, Leopards, Bradleys are destroyed in the same way as Soviet tanks and infantry fighting vehicles (we have recently seen this during the first stage of the counteroffensive)... It is good that we have decided against expensive things which we would not be able to produce, but would have had to buy. On the ground, all this armament and also machine guns and grenade launchers solve very big problems,” the president said.

According to him, armament such as, for example, multiple launch rocket systems, Shkval torpedo systems (modernized Grad systems) are in demand today. They are in great demand and solve big problems on the frontline. Ammunition is also needed for them.

“I'm not saying that those [expensive high-precision weapons] are not needed. They are needed. However, without these [simpler weapons] there will be no victory on the frontline,” the president stressed.

“Hardware needs ammunition,” the head of state continued. Therefore, mass production of ammunition has been launched in Belarus following the Belarusian president's instruction. Very soon this production will reach its full capacity.

“We will make 10,000-12,000 pieces of ammunition a year. Since we are a 'dictatorship' we can reach the annual production of 15,000 pieces,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The president paid special attention to ammunition storage conditions. He recalled that the country still had many storage facilities for nuclear weapons which remained from the past. After assuming the office of the president, Aleksandr Lukashenko visited one of these storage facilities, which then housed ammunition for the Topol systems. Then, amid a difficult economic situation and under significant external pressure, the president had to make the decision to renounce nuclear weapons. “In the light of the current situation we have to bring them back,” the head of state said.

Written by belta.by