MINSK. Nov 14 (Interfax-AVN) - Iskander tactical missile systems (SS-26 Stone according to NATO classification), which Belarus intends to buy from Russia, will be made available to the 465th Missile Brigade, Interfax was told at the Belarusian Defense Ministry on Wednesday.
A ministry spokesman said that the brigade is armed today with the Tochka (SS-21 Scarab) short-range road mobile tactical missile system. The brigade is stationed near the town of Osipovichi in Mogilyov region.
Chief of Ordnance of the Belarusian Armed Forces Col. Mikhail Puzikov disclosed the plans to acquire Iskander systems at a Wednesday briefing in Minsk.
"One brigade is to be armed with Iskander systems," he said.
He said the effort will be part of the government's program of armaments to last until 2015.
The Belarusian army will fully switch to the Iskander system by 2010, he added.
Russia will sell the system to Belarus, Puzikov said. "We have money put aside for the purchase of Iskander at preferential terms in the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)," he said.