Belarus tests combat readiness with powerful polonez systems
Due to the tense situation at the border with Ukraine, Belarus has announced a combat readiness test. Among those being tested is a unit equipped with Polonez systems capable of attacking targets up to 186 miles away in just 20 minutes. Here, we explain what Belarusian Polonez systems are.
6:04 AM EDT, June 29, 2024
According to the portal Defense Express, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense published a recording with a comment from the unit commander equipped with Polonez systems. The commander stated that the unit can attack any target within a distance of 186 miles in just 20 minutes.
The combat readiness test is a response to alleged reconnaissance activities by the Russian Volunteer Corps operating in Ukraine. According to Belarus, its members use drones to conduct surveillance of industrial and infrastructure facilities on the Belarusian side. The data was obtained from a drone that was shot down by one of the Belarusian border guards.
Polonez system - long-range rocket artillery developed with the help of China
The Belarusian armed forces are more of a post-Soviet weapons museum, but there are a few exceptions. One is the Polonez system, introduced in 2016, a modern successor to the Soviet BM-30 Smerch systems.
As Łukasz Michalik, a journalist from Wirtualna Polska, wrote, Polonez was developed in cooperation with China. Belarus obtained the rights to the licensed production of A200 family missiles from China. These are 300 mm caliber missiles equipped with a combination of inertial and satellite navigation, which, depending on the version, allows for engaging targets at distances of 124 to 186 miles with a circular error probable (CEP) of about 98 feet.
They represent a tremendous progress over previous unguided systems and are housed in hermetically sealed launch containers. The Polonez fire unit consists of eight missiles mounted on the eight-wheeled MZKT-7930 Astrolog chassis. This is not the end of its capabilities, as there is also a Polonez-M variant equipped with a ballistic missile containing a larger warhead weighing 1,058 pounds.
Besides Belarus, another user of this powerful system is Azerbaijan, which employed it during the war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. It is a weapon with significant capabilities that should not be underestimated.
