Defense - The Times Of Central Asia

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Military Finance Army Defense State Budget

Tajikistan to Increase Defense Budget

Tajik authorities plan to increase the 2025 defense, law enforcement, and judiciary budget to 4.7 billion somoni ($446 million); a rise equivalent to $92 million compared to the $354 million spent in 2024. As a percentage, spending on the army and security forces will rise to 2.8 percent of GDP, up 0.2 percent from the previous year. In adherence to the State Secrets Act, data on the breakdown of the budget remains confidential. However, issues concerning the efficient spending of allocated funds have recently come to light. In August 2024, the Agency for State Financial Control and Anti-Corruption reported that over 120 million TJS ($11.3m), intended for clothing and food for servicemen, had been embezzled from the Defense Ministry. In response, a criminal case was opened against 52 suspects, including ministry officials. According to documentation of increased military spending in Central Asia by the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research (SIPRI), in 2023, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan's expenditure on defense totalled $1.8 billion. Figures for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan remain unknown. The growth of the defense budget in the region is due to several factors, and in particular, border conflicts between Central Asian countries, the unstable situation in Afghanistan, and the war in Ukraine which have forced the region's states to strengthen their defense and revise strategic priorities regarding security. Changes in the geopolitical environment have also impacted military expenditure. Whilst Central Asian states previously relied heavily on Russia for security, the number of external partners has increased significantly. Alongside Russia, countries such as Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Germany, France, China, and Belarus, are beginning to play an essential role in the region's security. They also supply arms and military equipment. Experts note that increasing defense budgets, while necessary to maintain stability, cannot solve all security-related problems, and for the foreseeable future, political instability and internal factors remain severe challenges for Central Asian countries.

Military Exercises Defense Armed Forces Russia CSTO Belarus

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.

CSTO Defense International Cooperation CIS Military Exercises

CSTO to Hold Series of Military Exercises in Central Asia

In the coming days, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will hold a series of exercises to protect stability in the Central Asia region. The director of the First Department of the CIS countries, Mikael Agasandyan, told RIA Novosti: “Russia is consistently making efforts to develop the CSTO’s potential as an effective structure responsible for maintaining stability in member states and the vast Eurasian space. In the coming weeks, a series of exercises are planned with various components of the Organization’s Collective Forces on the territory of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, aimed at practicing joint actions in the Central Asian region to protect the stability and collective security, in particular, taking into account the situation in Afghanistan.” He also noted the interest in the CSTO's work on the part of Eurasian states that share the opinion on the importance of creating a single, indivisible, and reliable security space on the continent. The Times of Central Asia has previously written about other CSTO military exercises held in Kazakhstan.

Finance Industry Armed Forces Defense Investment

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.

Aircraft US Air Transport Bilateral Relations Defense

U.S. Refurbishment of Pilatus PC-12 Aircraft for Uzbekistan

US company Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has been awarded a $64.2 million contract to refurbish six Pilatus PC-12 aircraft for Uzbekistan. The work will be performed in Uzbekistan and completed by August 2027. According to the U.S. Defense Department's website, the contract which was awarded under the U.S. Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, includes not only the restoration of the aircraft but also logistical support and on-site maintenance. The Pilatus PC-12 is a single-engine turboprop aircraft widely used for various missions, including surveillance and transportation. Since the aircrafts' proven reliability lends itself to civilian and military applications, their rehabilitation will have a significant impact on the expansion of Uzbekistan's aviation capabilities, including long-range monitoring and transportation missions. It is worth noting that the Pilatus PC-12 aircraft is often used in difficult conditions due to its ability to take off and land on short runways, making it indispensable for operations in Uzbekistan's remote and hard-to-reach regions.

Army Defense Armed Forces Security

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.