Azerbaijan to Purchase Missile Systems Polonaise

Moscow / 18.04.18 / Turan: According to the Moscow-based Kommersant newspaper, this year Belarus will supply ten multiple rocket launcher systems Polonaise to Azerbaijan. A source in the Defense Ministry of Belarus told the newspaper that the contract implies the transfer of ten sets of multiple rocket launcher systems (missiles, transport-loading machines, control stations, radar stations, etc.).

Legal documents are at the final stage, and the customer completes the settlement of payment issues. The contract amount is not reported.

Baku has long been eyeing the Belarusian Polonaise and the Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov recently visited Minsk, where he got acquainted with this missile system. Military experts in Russia regard this deal as Baku's response to the delivery of Iskander missile systems to Armenia.

It is noteworthy that earlier a number of Belarusian media reported Minsk's refusal to supply Polonaise to Azerbaijan under the pressure of Armenia. Then the talks about deliveries to Baku were triggered by protests from Yerevan, which accused Minsk of violating the CSTO charter, of which Minsk and Yerevan are members. However, as the events showed, such publications were a distracting maneuver to reassure Yerevan.

As for the tactical and technical data of Polonaise, this system is designed to defeat any group or point targets of the enemy, manpower and equipment.

The rockets of caliber 300 mm fly twice as far as their American "colleagues" MRLS HIMARS and are equipped with a system of corrections based on satellite navigation. Deviation from the target does not exceed 30 m. The battery Polonaise of six combat vehicles can cover up to 48 separate targets located on an area of ​​100 square kilometers.

The missile has a satellite control system that provides a maximum range of 280 km. The fighting part weighing 480 kg has a power corresponding to a charge of 560 kg of TNT.

In fact, this means that the entire territory of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh can be under a powerful missile strike. In particular, the Armenian capital may be struck from the territory of Nakhchivan. -02D-