Lukashenko unveils first Belarusian-made assault rifle

Belarus has developed its first fully localized VSK-100B assault rifle, moving to establish a domestic small-arms industry and reduce its reliance on foreign weapons components, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday.

Speaking during a visit to a facility of Belarusian arms producer Kidma Tech in the Minsk region, where he was presented with the first locally-made assault rifle and shown the company’s fully localized serial production of small arms, Lukashenko said Belarus earlier did not have a fully localized small-arms manufacturing capability.

“We did it ourselves,” Lukashenko said, praising the establishment of the production line.

He stressed that small arms remained an important component of military capability despite the growing use of drones and ballistic missiles.

At the same time, Lukashenko noted that a plaque accompanying the gift read “Not for war ... For confidence in peace.”

According to him, Minsk is seeking to expand the project beyond a single rifle and develop a broader defense-industrial manufacturing base.

Kidma Tech has already designed five models and six variants of combat small arms, and the planned production line is expected to include a high-precision bolt-action rifle, a submachine gun and a machine gun.

Lukashenko urged Belarusian weapons manufacturers to continue developing new products and said investment in the sector should not be limited if the industry can eventually generate export revenues.

“We need to move forward and not be afraid that we cannot do something. We can do everything,” he said.

The project is ultimately intended to give Belarus technological self-sufficiency in small-arms production and create the foundations for a domestic arms industry, he said.