Belarusian Su-27 and Su-24 fighter jets are likely to be delivered to Russia as part of a military support package.
The prospect of the Belarusian Air Force transferring Su-27 and Su-24 fighters to Russia is being talked about and this possibility is likely to become a reality in the future.
Belarus is actually opening “Lend-Lease” to Russia. In the period from April 2022 to August 2022, we talked about Minsk transferring artillery shells to the Russian Army in significant quantities.
From September 2022 to October 2022, there were visual confirmations of the delivery of T-72A tanks from the archives by Belarus, and even the Tor-M2E air defense system is on active duty. for the Russian Army.
It is possible that Belarus’ “Lend-Lease” will have an unexpected turn and Minsk will deliver special combat vehicles to the Russian Army, which are “excess” fighters from storage bases.
As of 2012, the Belarusian Air Force is equipped with 21 Su-27 air superiority fighters, 23 Su-24M front-line bombers, and 12 Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft.
In February 2012, President Lukashenko ordered the decommissioning of all Su-27s, by December of the same year, all Su-24M/MRs, due to “budget savings”, were put into storage at the Air Base. Army 61 near Baranovichi.
Data from open sources suggest that in 2013, Belarus sold four Su-24Ms to Sudan, and in 2016 the country plans to sell 12 more such aircraft. There is no information on the fate of the Belarusian Su-27s after they were put into storage.
In April 2022, after Google Maps improved its service, the media suddenly received pictures of fighters that the Belarusian Air Force had announced to be decommissioned.
In particular, these photos show that at least eight Su-27 fighters and at least five Su-24M bombers are still stationed at Belarus’s 61st Air Base.
More than six months have passed since then, and it seems that President Lukashenko has found a “use” for his “excess” planes.
According to Defense Express, Belarus has promised to hand over some of its existing Su-27 fighters to the Russian Federation. Probably at least two Belarusian Su-27s were overhauled at Aircraft Repair Plant No. 558 and may have flown to Russian territory.
Besides, four more Su-27s are also on their way. We cannot rule out that President Lukashenko also wants to transfer his Su-24Ms to the Russians.
So what can Belarus get? Here we need to remember that according to the pre-war plan when the Ukraine conflict broke out, the Belarusian Air Force was supposed to receive an additional batch of 4 Su-30SM fighters in October 2022.
However, Belarus has absolutely no “cash” to pay for these fighters, they only count on the balance of Belarus’ loans to build nuclear power plants.
And it looks like Minsk is paying for a new batch of Su-30SMs, through the delivery of their “storage” Su-27 (and future Su-24Ms).
If the above process really takes place, it is unclear what role the Belarusian Su-27 and Su-24M will play in the Russian Air Force.
