Armed Forces - The Times Of Central Asia

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Kyrgyzstan Hosts CSTO Exercises

According to a statement from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), troops from five of the organization's six member states -- Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Tajikistan -- have convened this week at the Edelweiss military training ground in Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul region for training. The joint exercises involve over five thousand people and 900 units of military equipment, with only Armenia not represented. “The tasks of the exercise include improving mechanisms for making and implementing decisions on the use of forces and means, as well as increasing coherence between the armies of the allied countries and the interoperability of military formations in preparing and conducting joint operations,” said Andrei Serdyukov, Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff. The exercises combine various training components. The maneuvers include special exercises with intelligence forces, and logistics exercises. The Interaction-2024 command-staff exercise is aimed at preparing for a joint operation to resolve a potential armed conflict. [caption id="attachment_22933" align="aligncenter" width="300"] @TCA. A.Chipegin[/caption] The CSTO press service said that one of the exercise's priorities this year is to improve the deployment of the collective forces, including managing the transit of military contingents through allied countries. Observers from nine countries are present at the Edelweiss ground: Algeria, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan. Also observing the exercise are representatives of the UN Secretariat, the SCO Secretariat, the CIS Executive Committee, and the CIS Anti-Terrorism Center. “In our dynamically changing world, security is becoming paramount, and this requires new approaches, effective coordination, and clear solutions... Our countries have become direct participants in the beginning reshuffle of forces in the world,” Lieutenant General Baktybek Bekbolotov, Kyrgyzstan's Minister of Defense, commented at the opening of the exercise. According to Bekbolotov, the main threats to the countries of Central Asia are terrorism, separatism, and extremism, as well as the arrival of radical groups from the Middle East to the region's borders. “With a global threat, the efforts of one country are not enough. There are regional organizations for this purpose; in our case, the main one is the CSTO,” Bekbolotov stressed.

Finance Industry Armed Forces Investment Defence industry

Tajikistan Intends To Expand Production of Armored Vehicles and Special Equipment

Tajikistan's Sipar Group plans to significantly expand the production of armored vehicles and special equipment at its plant in the city of Tursunzade. The project is being implemented with a foreign investment of $15 million, allowing the company to produce 17 types of special vehicles. The plant is already actively developing its production capacity. The enterprise assembles military and civilian vehicles using components from the United Arab Emirates. Tajikistan's Minister of Industry and New Technologies, Sherali Kabir, said that armored vehicles in Tursunzade are manufactured using Canadian technologies; therefore, they are in no way inferior to their counterparts produced in other Central Asian countries. So far, the plant has produced a limited volume of vehicles, but given the demand, it plans to increase its production capacity significantly in the coming years. The project will also create more than a hundred new jobs, which will make an important contribution to the region's economic development. The plant's products are aimed not only at the domestic market, but also with the possibility of exporting to other Central Asian countries in mind, which would allow Tajikistan to strengthen its position in the international arena in the defense industry.

Security Armed Forces Defense Army

Drones, Armored Vehicles, and Planes: Kazakhstan Announces Large-Scale Rearmament

The Defense Department of Kazakhstan has provided a report on its work for the first half of this year, documenting that the Kazakh army intends to update its weaponry. The geography of supplies is extensive, from Chinese quadcopters to European heavy transport aircraft. In 2024, the delivery of the armored wheeled vehicles Arlan (produced by Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering) and COBRA II (Turkish Otocar) is expected. By the end of the year, the department plans to purchase complex tactical unmanned systems (SUNQAR) and mini unmanned systems (EVOMax). Experts believe that the decision to buy drones was dictated by the mass use of such systems in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. These hostilities have convincingly proved that quadcopters are an effective type of weaponry. The Defense Ministry reports that the "Armed Forces continue rearming with modern equipment models, including domestically produced ones. More than equipment was received this year, 50 units were overhauled." Five hundred units of new fighter jets and anti-aircraft missile systems formed of high-precision weapons classes are being purchased for the Air Defense Forces. According to Orda.kz, the choice was made to favor the Russian Su-30SM aircraft. Earlier, there was information about the possible purchase of French Rafale fighters. "In December last year, the Defense Ministry noted that given the high cost of French Rafale aircraft, the purchase of Russian planes is being considered. The Su-30SM is a multi-role fighter, and, logically, the Defense Ministry does not advertise that it will buy planes, and possibly SAMs, from a 'sub-sanctioned ally,'" the publication noted. In addition, the ANKA heavy-class unmanned aerial vehicle system is undergoing experimental military operations. The Turkish strike UAV entered service with four countries in 2023. This year, production of the ANKA will begin in Kazakhstan. The report indicates that the European Union is expected to deliver the first A400M heavy-lift military transport aircraft and an anti-diversion boat for the Navy. The department stated, "Shops have been launched to repair armored and automotive equipment, troop air defense, anti-tank systems, artillery, and small arms. So far, more than 1.5 thousand military equipment units have been repaired." In the annual rating of countries based on their level of military power Global Firepower-2024, Kazakhstan was placed 58th out of 145. Kazakhstan's armed forces are recognized as being the strongest in Central Asia.