Aerial drones for every Belarusian border outpost

Every Belarusian border service outpost will get an unmanned aerial vehicle within the next few years for the sake of improving the effectiveness of protection of the state border, BelTA learned from Chairman of the State Border Committee of Belarus Leonid Maltsev during a session of the advisory board.

“The drones will allow keeping an eye on the designated section of the border in any weather and will feed the information while flying along the designated route,” explained the official.

Apart from that, the State Border Committee is working to buy gyrocopters and provide every border service unit with it. Gyrocopters boast increased maneuverability, can use much shorter runways for landing and taking off. “Apart from that, gyrocopters can hover in one place against strong wind. The excellent view from up there and the weaker vibrations in comparison with helicopters make gyrocopters very comfortable for observing restricted-access territories from the air. Their economic effectiveness is another important factor in favor of introducing these technical novelties in the border service,” added representatives of the State Border Committee of Belarus.

The Belarusian border service will still use helicopters provided by the Emergencies Ministry and the Defense Ministry for the sake of protecting the state border.

BelTA has been told that the introduction of the electronic queuing system at border checkpoints is entering the practical implementation phase. “Following proposals from the regions it has been decided to enable feedback from citizens, including by means of online consultations via the State Border Committee website about border-crossing rules, rules of visiting the near-border zone, and other topical matters of border regulations,” explained the source.

The Chairman of the State Border Committee drew attention to the need to get local population involved in protecting the border. In his words, financial means can be used to reward the active civil stance of Belarusians, their vigilance, and desire to help the border service.