The Sinals Troops are independent special troops, which are part of the military organisation of our State and act as a means of ensuring its armed defence.
The history of the formation and development of the signals troops of the Belarusian Armed Forces is closely connected with the Russian army and the Soviet army. The history of the signals troops dates back to the formation of the first military signals units of the Russian army and navy during the Crimean War of 1853-1856, when telegraph communications were used for the first time to control the troops. The introduction of the first signals units and troops, even though their leadership was not centralised, led to further development of military communications. As the warfare means and the art of war developed, the requirements for troops control increased. Communications equipment was improved. From 1878, the Russian army began to use telephone communications for troops control and radio communications from 1899.
The experience of the Russo-Japanese war has convincingly demonstrated that it is impossible to provide stable control of troops without improving the work of the staffs and using the whole range of communication systems. During the First World War, the Civil War and foreign military intervention, due to the growing tension and scope of military operations, prearranged front and army operations with the participation of a large number of troops and military equipment, it was impossible to ensure the control of troops without centralising the management of military communications and separating them into independent special forces.
Taking into account the importance of solving the troops’ control issues and the role of the signals troops in it, the Workers’ and Peasants’ Defence Council of the young Soviet Republic developed and approved the Regulation on the control of field communications in the Red Army. According to it, the Red Army Communications Department and the corresponding directorates (departments) in all headquarters were established by the order of the Russian Revolutionary Military Council No. 1736/362 of 20 October 1919. For the first time in the history of military affairs, the communications troops were given independence as special signals troops. The day of signing of the order of the Russian Revolutionary Military Council on 20 October 1919 became the birthday of the signals troops.
During the Great Patriotic War, the personnel of the signals troops showed high military prowess, courage and heroism. 303 military communicators were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 106 military personnel attained the Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, tens of thousands of heroes were awarded orders and medals. Over the years, almost 600 signals units were awarded orders, more than 200 of them — twice, and many of them became guards and were awarded honorary titles. Most units and military signals troops of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus took part in the battles for the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders. Among them are the 86th Volkovysk Red Banner Order of Alexander Nevsky communications brigade, the 60 Baranovichi Red Banner Order of Alexander Nevsky separate communications regiment, the 74th Berlin Red Banner Order of Alexander Nevsky separate communications regiment, the 40th Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Order of the Red Banner separate communications battalion and others.
During the past post-war years with the transition of troops to a peaceful situation, the signals troops of the Belarusian Military District, and later the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, carried out measures to restore and develop the fixed communications system, deployment of communication systems of garrisons and military stations, as well as the organisation of combat training of troops in peaceful conditions.
During this period, a great contribution to the development of the communications system and troops was made by the chiefs of the signals troops of the Belarusian Military District and the chiefs of Signals of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus: Lieutenant Generals Dmitry Nesterenko, Ruben Gabrillants, Major Generals Ivan Akhremenko, Leonid Evdokimov, Nikolai Dunaev, Ivan Kulakov, Anatoly Puchkov, Mikhail Dernovoy, Viktor Nikonov, Alexander Sokolov, Gennady Kazakov, Oleg Mishchenko.
The years of peaceful life of the Republic of Belarus have made it possible to create a successful national economy, improve the welfare of the people, and raise several generations of citizens who have not experienced the horrors of war. But the transition to an independent state was not easy, as well as for the Armed Forces.
The development of the military command and control systems and its technical basis - the communications system of the Armed Forces is a priority area together with set of measures ensuring the defence capability of the state and maintaining high combat readiness of troops.
The development of military communications is based on the fundamental principle of proactive readiness of the communications system in relation to the needs of the military authority.
The strategic direction of modernisation of the communication system is the transition to a new, more perfect form of its construction on the basis of modern information and communication technologies, batch transmission of information, with the ability to self-restore using various means of transmission.
The trends of changes in the armed conflicts, the experience of local wars and armed conflicts of the last decade show that the requirements to the modern communication system have significantly increased:
the automation of officials’ work has significantly increased the volume of messages transmitted and reduced the time required to process them in order to obtain reliable information for decision-making;
rapid changes in the situation require real-time information exchange
the high mobility of objects and control subjects in the battle space obliges to establish communications with subscribers mainly in motion and from short halts.
It should be noted that the leadership of the country and the Armed Forces pay special attention to the development of the communication system and troops as an essential component of the improvement of the command and control systems. The tasks of building and developing the communication system and equipping the Armed Forces with modern communications equipment and systems are being carried out in accordance with the state programmes for which the necessary funding is raised despite the limited budgetary funds.
Today, the Armed Forces’ communication system has moved to a whole new level in providing communication services to military leadership bodies and troops in the accomplishment of the objectives.
By carrying out planned measures for the transition to modern communications equipment, the signals forces are becoming more compact and mobile, while the combat capabilities of military units and signals units have increased by an order.