Belarus is modernising its 9A33BM2 and 9A33BM3 vehicles, from the 9K33 Osa (SA-8 Gecko) air-defence system, to the 9A33-2B standard, according to the State Military Industrial Committee (Goskomvoenprom).
The work is being done by the 2566 Radioelectronic Armament Repair Plant, which is a part of the Goskomvoenprom system.
The new 9A33-2B transport-erector-launcher, based on a newer MAZ-6317 chassis, was first presented at the MILEX 2019 arms exhibition in Minsk.
The 9A33-2B vehicle is based on a MAZ-6317 chassis for the modernised Osa air-defence system. (State Military Industrial Committee of the Republic of Belarus)
Work to transfer the Osa system from its earlier BAZ-5937 chassis to MAZ-6317 chassis began in 2017. The systemā€™s 9A33-1B variant was based on the BAZ-5937 chassis, but Russiaā€™s Bryansk Automobile Plant discontinued that chassis and its spare parts, so the Osa system was developed on the MAZ-6317 family manufactured by the Minsk Automobile Plant, Goskomvoenprom said.
The air-defence commanderā€™s workstation is also included in the combat vehicle. The vehicleā€™s detection and tracking stations and optical sight have also been modernised to better detect, track, and engage small targets such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Goskomvoenprom claimed. A company spokesperson said that during tests, the target and guidance systems were able to detect Berkut type UAVs at a range of 13.8 km. Testing also included detection and tracking of a MiG-29 fighter aircraft at a range of about 42 km and an Mi-8 helicopter, Goskomvoenprom said.
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