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A ceremony took place in the Brestsky exercise area on 10 April to begin a Belarusian-Russian joint battalion-level tactical exercise that will feature live fire, learned from representatives of the 38th Independent Guards Airborne Brigade of the Belarusian army.

A company from the 106th Tula Guards Airborne Division travelled from the Russian city of Ryazan to Brest in order to take part in the exercise. The active phase of the exercise is scheduled for 11-13 April. It will involve about 500 military personnel, over 50 military vehicles, special vehicles, and automobiles as well as aviation. The exercise will be divided into three stages. The Belarusian and Russian paratroopers will march to the designated area of responsibility under the coverage of an air assault group. Paratroopers in company strength will be airdropped using Mi-8 helicopters. Then the Belarusian and Russian paratroopers will practice working together to seek and destroy illegal armed units in a populated locality.

According to the source, such combat training events are held every year in line with the schedule. They are designed to confirm the readiness of army units to carry out their missions in a complicated rapidly changing situation in addition to testing new theoretical guidelines. The Russian paratroopers are expected to leave Belarus on 15 April.

From March 13 to March 17, the command of the Air Force and Air Defense forces of the Belarusian Armed Forces and operation group of the Aerospace Forces’ command of the Russian Armed Forces will master the application of the Joint Regional Air Defence System of the Republic Belarus and Russian Federation, as well as organization and improvement of cooperation in the management of its forces and assets within the framework of the joint staff training with the Joint Command of the Regional Group of Forces.

The created Joint Regional Air Defence System of Russia and Belarus is constantly being improved. It allows qualitatively solving the issues of joint protection of western air borders of both states and exercising full control over the order of the airspace management.

An international scientific conference on military and technical problems will take place during the international weapons and defense technology expo MILEX 2017,  learned from representatives of the State Defense Industries Committee of Belarus.

In 2017 the international scientific conference on military and technical problems will be held in the format of panel sessions at premises of Belarusian defense enterprises to discuss eight main areas of interest.

The areas of interest include geoinformation control systems and automated systems to control weapons and troops; radio communication systems; systems to counter high-precision weapons, radio warfare systems, radar intelligence systems, and radio technology intelligence systems; the modern state and problems involved in improving radio electronics for military purposes and dual purposes; weapon mobility systems; Belarusian electronics components as the foundation for creating competitive radio electronics products.

Participants of the conference will discuss R&D efforts involved in creating and producing new and promising technologies and materials, equipment and instruments for defense and security purposes, dual-use technologies. Proposals will be worked out to advance and bolster military technology cooperation and scientific cooperation, to determine ways of integration and manufacturing cooperation with CIS and non-CIS states. Ways to advance and step up science-intensive products and raise the scientific and technological potential of the Republic of Belarus will be determined.

The previous international scientific conference on military and technical problems in 2014 gathered 354 representatives of defense industry companies from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. As many as 83 reports were delivered.

The Belarusian Armed Forces have started a complex exercise to check combat readiness of a number of army units, representatives of the Belarusian Defense Ministry told.

The Belarusian army readiness exercise began on 30 January. The exercise is supposed to improve the combat readiness of Belarusian army units to carry out their missions. It will improve the cohesive operation of military administration bodies, the ability of commanding officers to manage their troops in various circumstances, and the ability of army units to prepare for carrying out their assigned missions within a specified timeframe.

Various army units will be involved in the combat readiness exercise. The national air defense system will be tested with control targets. A dynamic environment will be created for the troops involved. Their knowledge of military hardware and materiel will be tested as well as the ability to act with limited time and information. About 30 Belarusian army units will be tested. About 3,000 reservists will be recalled to active duty for the duration of the exercise, too.

Six helicopters Mi-8MTV-5 were solemnly handed over to the 50th air base of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Command.

The solemn ceremony took place in Machulishchi, Minsk District on 28 November. It was the first batch of helicopters delivered as part of the contract on acquiring 12 military helicopters Mi-8MTV-5 from the Russian holding company Russian Helicopters. The contract was signed during the international defense technology expo Army 2015 in Russia.

The next batch of six helicopters is supposed to be delivered in 2017.

The Mi-8MTV-5 helicopter model is fitted with modern piloting, navigation, radio communication, and targeting solutions. The model is designed to carry out a number of tasks, including combat and transport operations. The body has been redesigned to increase the cargo load. The number of seats has been increased by a third. Now a Mi-8MTV-5 helicopter can land up to 35 paratroopers or transport up to 12 injured, who are accompanied by medics.

The helicopter has been fitted with a direct deployment system that allows four paratroopers to rope down to the ground at the same time. The piloting equipment has been fitted with night vision solutions. The helicopter is capable of carrying out missions in day and night time at low altitudes in complicated weather conditions in addition to being able to land and lift off in greenfield conditions.

During the handover ceremony three helicopter crews demonstrated how paratroopers can be deployed in complicated weather conditions.

The Mi-8 helicopter has been in production for decades and has become recognized as one of the world's best helicopters in its category. So far over 12,000 helicopters have been made and sold to over 100 countries.