8th International Exhibition of Arms and Military Equipment MILEX launches in Minsk

20 мая 2017

By Vladimir Korolyov: The 8th International Exhibition of Arms and Military Equipment MILEX has launched in Minsk, its participants and guests welcomed by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. The large-scale forum is taking place at two venues at once and is featuring 200 companies from 30 countries, including China, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Jordan, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and many others.

The MILEX exhibition was last held in 2014. Of course, since that time the Belarusian military industry has produced more new products to demonstrate to the audience and potential customers. According to Chairman of the Belarusian State Military-Industrial Committee Sergei Gurulyov, the volume of military products and services exported last year amounted to about 1 billion dollars, the main partner being Russia. Gulf countries, China and Southeast Asian countries, in particular Indonesia and the Philippines have expressed significant interest, too. Everything that is based on IT-technologies and software, such as unmanned aircraft and robots, is extremely in demand.

Belarus’ Armed Forces meet all requirements to counter modern challenges and threats, as announced at today’s exhibition opening by Defense Minister Andrei Ravkov. According to him, the process is being implemented in several directions — by purchasing new weapons and military equipment that meet world standards and by developing and equipping the Armed Forces with domestic complexes and systems. The country's Prime Minister said that MILEX contributed to consolidating Belarus’ international authority.

Among the most striking new products is the armored vehicle Caiman. Designed for a wide range of tasks at the 140th Repair Plant in Borisov, it is already in service with the Belarusian army. MILEX is also featuring the modernized T-72, fire tank, armored car capable of protecting against chemical weapons, Tor-M2 and other innovations.