Hetq has managed to access several leaked communiques regarding recent military cooperation between Belarus and Azerbaijan. POLITICO broke the story in a June 13 article entitled The secret arms deal that cost Putin an ally.

Politico reported that Armenia's partner in the CSTO, Belarus, secretly sold millions of dollars worth of weapons to Azerbaijan.

“Now, a cache of more than a dozen letters, diplomatic notes, bills of sale, and export passports seen by POLITICO shows that Belarus actively aided Azerbaijan’s armed forces between 2018 and 2022, as tensions peaked with Armenia. The services offered included modernizing older artillery equipment and providing new gear used for electronic warfare and drone systems,” the article states.

One of the diplomatic communications stated that Belarusian enterprises played an active role “in the restoration of de-occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as the export of Belarusian goods and services.”

On June 13, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan stated in the Armenian Parliament that no Armenian official, including himself, will visit Belarus if Alexander Lukashenko is the president of Belarus.

Letter to the Head of Military Intelligence of Azerbaijan

One of Hetq's partners provided several letters regarding military cooperation between Belarus and Azerbaijan, dating from 2017 to 2023.

One such letter, dated December 22, 2017, was from Deputy Chief Accountant Davidovich of the Belarusian State Foreign Trade Unitary Enterprise "Belspetsvneshtechnika" to Major General Hilal Najafov, Head of the Main Intelligence Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan.

Hilal Najafov

According to its official website, "Belspetsvneshtechnika" engages in scientific, manufacturing, and foreign trade activities (including mediation) related to military and dual-purpose goods, encryption means, means of receiving secret information, and other products. Expressing gratitude for their collaborative efforts, Davidovich provided the new banking details of "Belspetsvneshtechnika" to the Azerbaijani official to facilitate financial transactions related to their cooperation.

Complex Center for Repair and Maintenance of Weapons from Belarus

On November 13, 2018, the first deputy general director of "Belspetsvneshtechnika," A. Grinnik, wrote a letter to Alexander Gorbach, then director of OJSC "Gomel Radio Plant," a Belarusian military-industrial company.

Referring to Azerbaijan, Grinnik mentioned that the foreign client had reviewed "Belspetsvneshtechnika's" design proposal for creating a complex center for the repair and maintenance of weapons and military equipment on the client's territory. To draft the contract, Grinnik requested Gorbach to send a technical-commercial proposal.

Attached to the letter were the observations of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense regarding "Belspetsvneshtechnika's" proposal. According to the Azerbaijani side, the planned complex center should be capable of repairing different types of missile weapons within one year (with different numbers for peacetime and a "special period," as well as varying indicators of medium and capital repair potential). These assets include cannons and howitzers, mortars, self-propelled artillery, self-propelled mortars, multiple rocket launchers, anti-tank missile systems, radars, command vehicles, reconnaissance and observation systems, small arms, close combat equipment, anti-aircraft installations, and tank armament.

Thus, according to the Azerbaijanis, the future center should be capable of conducting medium repairs on 1,576 units of weapons annually during peacetime, with this number increasing to 3,152 during a "special period." The figures for capital repairs are smaller: 788 units during peacetime and 1,576 units during a "special period."

Modernization of the "Shilka" Anti-Aircraft Installation in Azerbaijan

On March 14, 2022, the first deputy general director of "Belspetsvneshtechnika," A. Grinnik, wrote a letter to Igor Semkovsky, the director of the Gomel Radio Factory.

Grinnik stated that "Belspetsvneshtechnika" is exploring the possibility of overhauling and modernizing 14 "Shilka" anti-aircraft self-propelled installations (ZSU-23-4) on the territory of a foreign customer, Azerbaijan. He invited Semkovsky to consider the participation of the Gomel Radio Factory in these efforts.

The contractor was tasked with preparing a package for "Shilka" repair works, conducting major repairs on its turret and the "Amur" automatic anti-aircraft gun (AZP-23), and performing preparatory work for installing the "Strizh-M2" optoelectronic station on the "Shilka."

ZSU-23-4BM

According to the "Belspetsvneshtechnika" website, the modernized Belarusian version (ZSU-23-4BM) of the Soviet-made "Shilka" includes several updates. Notably, it features the modern optoelectronic station "Strizh-M2," which allows for autonomous searching, detecting, and tracking of air and surface/water targets in passive mode. It can estimate the distance to tracked targets using neural network technologies and visualize the situation and service information.

Strizh-M2

Shipment of "Groza-S" Systems to Azerbaijan in Summer 2022

In the summer of 2022, Belarus sent two "Groza-S" systems to Azerbaijan via the Russian Federation. An invoice dated June 20, 2022, between "Belspetsvneshtechnika" and the procurement and supply department of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan is now in the possession of Hetq.

According to this invoice, Azerbaijan acquired two "Groza-S" anti-drone mobile radio electronic warfare stations, mounted on the chassis of the Belarusian "MAZ-631705", which were manufactured in 2022. In August 2020, Azerbaijani media reported the successful use of the "Groza-S" system on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the Tavush direction, where it was employed to shoot down an Armenian drone. This indicates that the Belarusian anti-drone weapon was incorporated into the Azerbaijani army in 2018, just two years after its serial production began.

According to the June 2022 invoice, each "Groza-S" system was priced at $4,850,000, bringing the total cost to $9,700,000. The military cargo was dispatched from the "Kolyadichi" railway station in the Minsk region, with the destination being the "Haji Zeynalabdin" (formerly "Nasosni") station in Sumgait. The Belarusian side was responsible for transporting the cargo, which was routed through Russia. The shipment route was as follows: "Kolyadichi" - "Osinovka" (Belarus) - "Krasnoye" - "Samur" (Russia) - "Yalama" - "Haji Zeynalabdin" (Azerbaijan).

Radio Technical Reconnaissance Systems for UAVs

On October 25, 2022, General Director of "Belspetsvneshtechnika," Gennady Timoshevich, wrote a letter to Heydar Periyev, Rector of the Research Institute of National Defense of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. In response to Periyev's inquiry on September 23, 2022, Timoshevich confirmed that their company is ready to supply a payload designed for UAVs that can detect and locate sources of radio waves in the 0.9-1.8 GHz frequency range.

Timoshevich also mentioned that they are prepared to organize a practical demonstration of this payload in Azerbaijan. To facilitate this, the Belarusian side sent an agreement for free use, indicating the temporary provision of two "EWA-1/18" spectrum analyzers (total value approximately $470,000) and one "EWA-30/1000" spectrum analyzer (cost approximately $157,000).

Adaptation of the "Groza-S" System for Mountainous Conditions

At the request of Azerbaijani officials, the "Groza-S" system was adapted for use in mountainous conditions. On November 18, 2022, Timoshevich informed Azerbaijan's Deputy Defense Minister and Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Ramiz Tahirov, about these developments. During bilateral negotiations in November 2022, an agreement was reached to prepare a technical-commercial proposal for mounting the "Groza-S" station on the high-capacity "MZKT-600500-020" chassis, which is suitable for mountainous terrain.

Ramiz Tahirov

Timoshevich highlighted that their specialists quickly developed a new structure for the "Groza-S" system. The equipment compartment was redesigned to fit a 6-meter-long sea container, enabling it to be automatically loaded and unloaded quickly on any chassis designed for transporting containers.

Timoshevich suggested to Lieutenant General Tahirov to consider the technical-commercial proposal for delivering four samples of the modified "Groza-S" system. The total price for these four systems was estimated at $23,560,000, which includes delivery and training of Azerbaijani personnel.

The letter also revealed that prior to this, three "Groza-S" stations mounted on "MAZ" chassis, and four "Groza-S" stations mounted on "MZKT" chassis had already been delivered to Azerbaijan.

Order of Artillery Lighting Kits from Azerbaijan

One more letter, which appeared at the disposal of Hetq, was written in 2023. On September 18, A. Grinnik, the First Deputy General Director of "Belspetsvneshtechnika," addressed Igor Semkovsky, the Director of the "Vimpel" Metal Construction Factory Branch of "Gomselmash" OJSC. Notably, "Vimpel" is the same "Gomel Radio Factory" company, which changed its name in December 2022 and became a part of "Gomselmash."

In the letter, Grinnik informed Semkovsky that they received an application (referring to Azerbaijan) to prepare and deliver 20 "Luch-GRZ-2M" universal lighting kits for artillery.

According to the website of "Belspetsvneshtechnika," these sets are designed to illuminate artillery aiming devices and the artillery commander's workplace in poor visibility conditions and at night.

Grinnik requested Semkovsky to consider the feasibility of producing these kits and to submit a commercial offer, specifying the price, delivery dates, and conditions.

SIPRI Statistics on Belarusian Arms Deliveries to Azerbaijan

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which specializes in the study of global arms production and movement, published an article in April 2021 detailing the main arms suppliers to Armenia and Azerbaijan from 2011 to 2020. SIPRI uses the Trend-Indicator Value (TIV) to measure trends in arms flows between countries.

Main Findings:

• Belarus: The third-largest supplier to Azerbaijan (7.1%), following Russia and Israel.
• Supplies: Belarus sold attack aircraft, anti-aircraft systems, tanks, artillery, and guided missiles to Azerbaijan. This arms trade is significant due to the increasing demand for Azerbaijani oil in Belarus, aiming to reduce its dependence on Russian oil. Conversely, no arms supply from Belarus to Armenia was recorded during this period.

Note that SIPRI also presents quantitative data on arms trade between different countries, which it gathers from open sources, both official and unofficial. Although the institute acknowledges that some of the data might not be double-checked, its statistics are remarkable. Below are the statistics from SIPRI regarding the arms sold from Belarus to Azerbaijan (the data marked with the “?” signs are not double-checked).

As we can see, from the mid-2000s to 2018, Belarus supplied Azerbaijan with a variety of military equipment, including tanks (T-72M1), self-propelled guns (2S7 "Pion"), attack aircraft (Su-25), towed guns (D-30, 2A36 "Giatsint-B"), air defense systems (Buk-1M), rocket launcher systems ("Polonez"), and guided missiles (Chinese A-200 missiles used by "Polonez").

These statistics reflect extensive arms trade between Belarus and Azerbaijan, highlighting a consistent supply of various military equipment over the years. No data is available on arms supplied from Azerbaijan to Belarus.