Belarus - Navigation and Topographic Service

Navigation-topographic management is a structural unit of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and is intended for the organization of topographic, geodetic and navigation support for the Armed Forces. It is the content body of the Armed Forces on providing them with means of topographic and geodetic support and navigation, topographic and geodetic information and navigation and time data.

The main tasks of the navigation and topographic management are:

• Implementation of the management of topographic, geodetic and navigation support and navigation and topographic service of the Armed Forces. Organization:
• advance preparation of operational areas in topographic, geodetic and navigational terms; the formation, storage and use of topographic and geodetic and navigation resources used in the interests of the defense of the state;
• protection of state secrets and information resources, covert control of subordinate military units, countering foreign technical intelligence services, their provision and control in their own activities and in subordinate military units.
• Maintaining the combat readiness, combat and mobilization readiness of the navigation and topographic management and subordinate military units, the organization and implementation of their continuous management, and the monitoring of their condition.
• Development of draft conceptual documents and plans for their implementation on the construction and development of services, topogeodetic and navigation support of the Armed Forces, other troops and military formations, as well as regulatory legal and technical regulatory legal acts of the Ministry of Defense, other official documents on issues of topogeodetic and navigation support.
• Planning, organization and implementation of measures for the preparation of services, methodological guidance of topographic training of troops.
• The development of the theory of topographic, geodetic and navigation support operations, the development of new forms and methods of application of navigation and topographic military units and divisions.
• Determination of the need and organization of timely supply of the Armed Forces with means of topographic and geodetic information, topographic and geodetic support and navigation.

Participation:

• in strategic planning on topogeodesic and navigation support of the state defense, joint use of the Armed Forces, other troops and military formations, including those allocated to the regional grouping of troops (forces) of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the regional grouping) , operational training of military control and combat training of formations and military units;
• in the organization of interaction and coordination of the activities of the structural elements of the state’s military organization on topographic, geodetic and navigational support for the state’s defense and military security;
• in planning the mobilization preparation of the economy of the Republic of Belarus on topogeodesic and navigation support for the state’s defense and military security, monitoring the implementation of mobilization tasks by organizations of the Republic of Belarus;
• in the study, selection, training, accumulation and deployment of military personnel in the military occupational specialties of the navigation and topographic service of the Armed Forces;
• within its competence in international military and military-technical cooperation with the armed forces of other states on military topography, geodesy, cartography and navigation.

In 1992 the topographical service of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus was created on the basis of the topographic service of the KBVO. In 2001 the topographic service of the General Staff of the Armed Forces was reorganized into the topographic and geodetic support and ground navigation management of the General Staff, and the topographic service of the Armed Forces into the topographic and geodetic support and ground navigation of the Armed Forces.

In 2004 the topographic and geodetic support and ground navigation control of the General Staff of the Armed Forces was renamed to the topographic control department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and the topographic and geodetic support and ground navigation service of the Armed Forces was assigned to the topographic service of the Armed Forces. In 2014 Order No. 211 of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus dated March 6, 2014 sets the date of the annual holiday of the navigation and topographic service of the Armed Forces - May 8.