Belarus Producing Launchers For New Oreshnik Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles

<p >Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has confirmed that his country has initiated manufacturing of several launchers for the Russian Oreshnik intermediate range ballistic missile system, adding that these were nearing completion. He noted that Belarus would require the missiles produced in Russia to complete the systems, and that the placement of the Oreshnik system in Belarus was progressing in accordance with bilateral agreements. It remains uncertain whether Belarusian firms are producing launchers exclusively for Oreshnik launchers that will be deployed in the country, or whether they are also supplying the Russian Armed Forces, with the latter option appearing more likely. Belarus has a long history of producing advanced missile launch vehicles, with the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) having developed several transporter erector launcher systems including the MAZ-547A launcher used for the Oreshnik’s predecessor the RSD-10 intermediate range ballistic missile. </p><p >Developing launch vehicles with comparable performances to those produced in Belarus has been a significant challenge for Russia’s defence sector since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, with the Russian Armed Forces having continued to rely heavily on imports of such vehicles from Belarus. The Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant is currently the primary facility producing missile launch vehicles, and produces the MZKT-79221 vehicle to serve as the chassis for the Topol-M intermediate range ballistic missile, and the MZKT-7930 vehicle for the Iskander ballistic missile system and the Pantsir-S1 air defence system. </p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/03/15/article_67d4cceae302c3_03081191.png" title="MZKT-7930 Vehicle From Iskander-M System"></p><p >Plans to supply Oreshnik missiles to Belarus were <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-belarus-oreshnik-missiles-nuclear-sharing" >confirmed</a> on December 6, 2024, and will represent the only transfer of intermediate range ballistic missiles between countries since the turn of the century. “We have places where we can deploy these weapons. With one condition: that the targets will be determined by the military-political leadership of Belarus, and that Russian specialists will service the deployment of the weapons,” President Lukashenko stated at the time, with the missiles projected to begin deployments in the second half of 2025. The Oreshnik was first utilised in <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-icbm-targeting-ukraine" >combat</a> on November 21, 2024, and is estimated to have a 4000km range while carrying multiple independently re-targetable warheads including both nuclear and conventional warheads. The arsenal deployed in Belarus is expected to be armed with both nuclear and conventional warheads, with the former being available to the Belarusian Armed Forces as part of the nuclear sharing agreement signed with Russia in 2023. Deployment of the Oreshnik follows <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/expanding-nuclear-belarusian-iskander-brigade" target="_blank">large scale transfers</a> of Iskander-M short range ballistic missile systems and S-400 air defence systems to Belarus, and <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/wagner-s400s-iskanders-belarus-heavily-arming" target="_blank">strengthens</a> the country’s ability to asymmetrically counter the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/poland-triple-forces-belarusian-border" target="_blank">rapid expansion</a> of NATO forces near its territory. </p>

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