140 Repair Plant

The 140 Repair Plant (Russian: ОАО «140 ремонтный завод») is a Belarusian state-owned defense enterprise based in Borisov, Minsk Region. It specializes in the overhaul, modernization, and manufacture of armored fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, tanks, and related engines. The plant traces its origins to the Soviet-era Mobile Tank-Aggregate Repair Plant No. 7, established in 1943 in Vyshny Volochyok, and was relocated to Borisov in 1948, where it received the designation 140th Repair Plant. Over the decades it has repaired and upgraded thousands of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and engines for the Soviet and later Belarusian armed forces. Since the 1990s it has operated under the Belarusian Ministry of Defense and later the State Military-Industrial Committee. The company offers a range of modernized armored vehicles, including the T-72BM2 and T-72BME tanks, BTR-60MB3 and BTR-80 armored personnel carriers, the Kaiman armored vehicle, the Zashchitnik multi-purpose protected vehicle, and the BRAM recovery vehicle. It also provides maintenance workshops and modernization services. The plant has been subject to international sanctions by the EU, UK, US, and other countries between 2020 and 2022 due to its role in the Belarusian defense sector. Despite sanctions, it continues to promote its products and services on the international market, emphasizing over 25 years of export experience, modern equipment, and quality management systems.

The 140 Repair Plant traces its history to the Mobile Tank-Aggregate Repair Plant No. 7, established by decision of the USSR State Defense Committee in May–August 1943 in Vyshny Volochyok, Kalinin Oblast, Russian SFSR. On 5 April 1945, the plant was awarded the Order of the Red Star for exemplary fulfillment of command assignments during battles with German invaders during the capture of Budapest. By the end of World War II, the plant had repaired 6,500 tanks, over 3,000 engines, and tens of thousands of transmission units and mechanisms. In July 1948, it was relocated to Borisov, Minsk Region, Byelorussian SSR, and in December 1948 received the new designation 140th Repair Plant. In 1968, it began major overhaul of the BMP-1; in 1981, of the T-72 tank; and in 1988, of the IMR engineer obstacle-clearing vehicle. Together with the design and technology center of the Main Armored Tank Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the plant developed overhaul and modernization technologies that were later introduced at other repair enterprises. During the Soviet period, the enterprise overhauled over 13,000 BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, 1,000 tanks, and 77,000 engines. After 1991, the enterprise came under the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus. Under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, Belarus committed to reducing armored vehicle numbers, and the 140 Repair Plant began destroying tanks, armored personnel carriers, and armored vehicles exceeding permitted limits. With the near disappearance of state orders in the 1990s, the plant's workforce shrank from 1,800 to 800. To broaden its services, it mastered overhaul of civilian equipment: railway railcars, motorized railcars, TGK diesel locomotives, and engines for Kirovets tractors and BelAZ heavy trucks. On the chassis of BMP-1s slated for elimination, together with VNIITransmash, it developed the Berezina and Alesya emergency rescue vehicles, LPM forest firefighting machines, and on the T-62 tank chassis, the Zubr tracked tractor. In the early 2000s, the plant began developing modernized variants of the BTR-60PB and BTR-70 for national armed forces and foreign customers. In 2001, it began developing a modernized BTR-70 together with the Slovak company Metapol, which proposed its Cobra turret combat module. The Kobra-K (BTR-70 with Cobra module) demonstrator participated in the Berezina-2002 exercises and was shown at SOFEX-2002 in Amman, Jordan. The Kobra-S (BMP-1 with Cobra module) was also created. By 2002, together with Russian company Logos, modern electronic simulators TV-172 were created for training tank and BMP crews. In 2003, a quality management system per ISO 9001-2009 and an environmental management system per STB ISO 14001-2005 were introduced. On 30 December 2003, the plant came under the State Military-Industrial Committee of the Republic of Belarus. At MILEX-2005, a BMP-2 with the Rubezh-M sighting and observation complex was presented. In 2007, the plant began developing a modernized BRDM-2. By early 2008, it could overhaul T-72, T-72A, T-72B, T-72B1 tanks, IMR-2 chassis, BMP-1 and BMP-2, BTR-60PB, BTR-70 and special vehicles, diesel engines, and 20 types of railway equipment; repair components, artillery systems, aiming devices, electrical and special equipment of Soviet-made armored vehicles; and manufacture Berezina emergency transport vehicles, LPM and LPM-1 forest firefighting machines, off-road cranes and excavators on BMP-1 chassis, Alesya emergency transport vehicles on BRDM-2 base, and Zubr tracked tractors on T-62 chassis. In 2009, it mastered overhaul of T-80B, T-80BV, and T-80BVK tanks. On 23 December 2009, the republican unitary enterprise was transformed into an open joint stock company. On 30 August 2010, the plant patented a modernized BRDM-2 variant with a diesel engine replacing the standard gasoline engine. In 2020–2022, the plant was subject to sanctions by the EU, UK, US, and some other countries.

• Mobile Tank-Aggregate Repair Plant No. 7 established in Vyshny Volochyok by decision of the USSR State Defense Committee.

• Awarded the Order of the Red Star for exemplary fulfillment of command assignments during the capture of Budapest.

• Relocated to Borisov, Minsk Region, Byelorussian SSR.

• Received the new designation 140th Repair Plant.

• Mastered major overhaul of the BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle.

• Mastered major overhaul of the T-72 tank.

• Mastered major overhaul of the IMR engineer obstacle-clearing vehicle.

• Enterprise transferred to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus.

• Began developing a modernized BTR-70 together with Slovak company Metapol.

• Kobra-K demonstrator participated in Berezina-2002 exercises and was shown at SOFEX-2002 in Amman.

• Introduced ISO 9001-2009 quality management system and STB ISO 14001-2005 environmental management system.

• Plant came under the State Military-Industrial Committee of the Republic of Belarus.

• Presented BMP-2 with Rubezh-M sighting and observation complex at MILEX-2005.

• Began developing a modernized variant of the BRDM-2.

• Mastered major overhaul of T-80B, T-80BV, and T-80BVK tanks.

• Republican unitary enterprise transformed into an open joint stock company.

• Patented a modernized BRDM-2 variant with a diesel engine.

• Subject to sanctions by the EU, UK, US, and some other countries.

State-owned defense enterprise providing overhaul, modernization, and manufacture of armored vehicles and engines, with over 25 years of international market presence.

• T-72BM2 tank

  Modernized main battle tank offered by the plant.

• T-72BME tank

  Export version of the modernized T-72 tank.

• BTR-60MB3 with combat module

  Modernized armored personnel carrier with a combat module.

• Kaiman armored vehicle

  Armored transport vehicle.

• Zashchitnik multi-purpose protected vehicle

  Multi-purpose protected vehicle.

• MTO-UB1-MB maintenance workshop

  Technical maintenance workshop vehicle.

• BMP-2 and modifications

  Infantry fighting vehicle and its modernized versions.

• BRAM recovery vehicle

  Repair and recovery vehicle.

• BTR-80 and modifications

  Armored personnel carrier and its modernized versions.

1. 1ОАО "140 ремонтный завод" - продукция и услуги военного назначения140zavod.by
2. 2140 repair plant - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3140-й ремонтный завод - Wikipediaru.wikipedia.org