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Russia Delivers Another Su-30SM2 Fighter Batch to Belarus, Reinforcing Alliance
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Belarus has received another batch of Russian-made Su-30SM2 fighter jets and said the aircraft would soon be placed on air defense duty, according to the Belarusian defense ministry statement on December 26.
Deputy Air Force and Air Defense Commander Alexander Belyaev said, “The arrival of new aircraft has already become a good tradition: the fleet is being steadily renewed,” adding the jets would undergo technical inspection at their air base and “in two weeks at most” go on duty to protect Belarusian airspace. He added, “This is not the last batch.”
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The delivery was the third publicly announced shipment of Su-30SM2s to Belarus in 2025, after the defense ministry reported the first batch’s arrival on May 27 and state media reported another batch on August 14.
In 2017, Belarus signed a $600 million contract for 12 Su-30SM jets, which were initially expected to be delivered in 2018.
Deliveries were later delayed by Western embargoes on certain components, with the first four aircraft arriving in November 2019. Four more were expected in 2020, with completion initially planned for 2021, while an additional eight aircraft were later slated for delivery in 2024.
The fighters’ strategic significance for Minsk is linked to Belarus’ role in a joint regional air defense arrangement with Russia and to its position along NATO’s eastern flank, bordering Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.
Belarus approved an agreement on a joint regional air defense system in 2012, stating that the two countries coordinate their air defense as part of Union State military cooperation.
Earlier, a German security expert highlighted that up to 360,000 Russian troops are reportedly stationed in Belarus, raising concerns among neighboring countries about regional security and future stability.
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