04.07.2005
Soviet Heritage of Belarus Military Industry
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Simon Araloff, AIA European section
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Europe's "Black hole" series
The Soviet bureaucracy called the infrastructure of scientific and industrial establishments in the service of the armed forces of the country, a "military-industrial complex" (MIC). The economy of the Soviet Union for more than 70 years of its existence, worked primarily to maintain battle readiness of the Soviet army. For this reason the Soviet military-industrial complex was like a huge monster with tens of thousands of secret scientific institutes, laboratories, factories and workshops scattered all over the country at which many millions of Soviet citizens worked.
The modern history of the military-industrial complex in Belarus begins in the second half of the nineteen forties. During World War II the republic suffered severely under the German occupation. One of the ways to restore its economy and infrastructure promptly was to transfer numerous scientific and industrial establishments, which were carrying out orders for the Soviet army to Belarus. More than 50 enterprises, scientific research institutes and construction-design bureaus, which were located in the republic, started performing defense research and development of nation-wide importance.
Another factor speeding up the development of the Belarus military-industrial complex was the Cold War, which started in the second half of the nineteen forties. Soviet military theorists considered Belarus, territorially wedged into the western areas of Eastern Europe, as the important strategic route on which both a Soviet overland attack on Europe and the intrusion of western armies into the Soviet Union could develop. This reason still determines the special attention paid to Belarus by the high command of the Russian army. From the end of the nineteen forties to the beginning of the fifties this led to a huge concentration of Soviet armies in the republic. For this reason, factories of various sizes for major overhaul of automobiles, aviation and armored technical military and also electronic warfare equipment were established in many Belarus cities.
Whereas the development of the military-industrial complex for the entire Soviet Union was a priority in comparison with the civilian sector of the economy, all scientific research institutes, design bureaus and defense factories entering into the complex were completed with the best experts and had the most advanced technologies which the Soviet Union could allow itself at that time. The level of payment and the prestige of the employees of the defense enterprises and organizations indicated their priority over other industries. Belarus was not an exception and for this reason it retained an extensive "intellectual bank", which consisted of experts with extremely high qualifications, which emerged after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet period the employees of the Belarus MIC specialized in the following areas:
* Automated (computerized) control systems for military intelligence, weapon systems, electronic warfare and communications;
* Special microelectronic devices and the radio engineering used in the space programs;
* Lorries of high passableness, wheel and caterpillar chassis for installation and transportation of large-sized missiles and special weapon systems;
* Optical-electronic devices based on laser technologies for space and aviation technical equipment and land forces weapons;
* Special purpose computer technical equipment.
Among the enterprises of the military-industrial complex located in Belarus during the Soviet period, several are worthy of special mention. The first one, established in 1971, was the BelOMO Association - one of leaders of the Soviet MIC in the field of optical-electronic instrument making. The Association included many military establishments, such as Minsk Vavilov factory of complex optical-mechanical and optical -electronic equipment, the "Zenith" factory (Vileika city) and the "Diaproektor" factory (Rogatchyov city). A well-known Central Design Bureau "Peleng" (established in 1974) is another optical-electronic enterprise also belonging to it. Besides BelOmO, there was also a unique enterprise, the Minsk Factory of Wheel Tractors (MZKT), supplying its products to the Soviet army air defense corps and strategic missile's corps. The products of a radio-engineering factory ”Sputnik” (Molodechno city) were also very popular within the Soviet Union.
In summary, it is necessary to note, that before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the above-mentioned and other MIC enterprises of Belarus supplied approximately 5% of the entire Soviet MIC potential. However, their value for defense structure was much greater. First of all, because many of these enterprises were monopolies in their branch, and secondly because they worked in one of the most advanced technology spheres. At the beginning of the nineties Minsk was the center of research in the field of antimissile and air defenses, and also the recognized leader in the sphere of research and manufacture of computer devices, communication equipment and various control systems. This circumstance has substantially affected the development of the national Belarus MIC after the country received its independence in December, 1991.
Read in the next part:
Belarus Military Industry: Gorbachev's Imprint
Related items:
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A Diplomatic "Eye for an Eye"
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