BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/03/2007

Belarus offers Venezuela anti-aircraft and high-tech weapons

Minsk - Belarusian officials have offered Venezuela an arms package for anti-aircraft and high-tech weapons designed to defeat US military technologies, the Belapan news agency reported Monday.

The report came less than a week after Belarus' government announced it would supply Caracas a substantial number of night vision devices, described by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in number as 'enough for every rifle in the Venezuelan army.'

The proposed sale calls for the delivery of an unspecified number of anti-aircraft missiles to Venezuela, claimed by Belarus to be capable of intercepting and destroying advanced aircraft.

The medium- and short-range missiles are modernised Soviet-era missile systems, and called by the Belarusian army Pechora-2T and Osa-1T, respectively. The size and value of the delivery was still under negotiation.

The Belarusian arms firm Teteraedr, manufacturer of the Pechora and Osa missiles, also will offer Venezuela the newly-developed TRK missile system, which is capable of intercepting not only high-tech aircraft, but smart munitions dropped by them, a company official said.

Belarusian arms manufacturers are keen to expand make Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez one of their top customers. Chavez, an outspoken opponent of US foreign policy, has embarked on an international arms-buying spree, financed by income from Venezuelan oil exports.

The US last May banned arms sales to Venezuela, traditionally a buyer of American military equipment. Since then Chavez has looked to China and former Soviet republics for new weaponry.

Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko like Chavez is a target for US isolation efforts, in Lukashenko's case because of Belarus' authoritarian government.

Source:

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1282917.php/Belarus_offers_Venezuela_anti-aircraft_and_high-tech_weapons