Historical information about the armed forces of Turkmenistan
After the collapse of the USSR, a large Soviet military grouping came under the jurisdiction of Turkmenistan: from the Turkestan Military District - the administration of the 36th Army Corps, 58th (Kizyl-Arvat), 84th (Ashgabat), 88th Kushka) MSD, 61- I training MOD (Ashgabat), 156th (Mary-2) and 217th (Kizyl-Arvat) aviation regiments of fighter-bombers of the 49th air army, from the 12th separate air defense army - 17th division Air Defense (Ashgabat) with 2 anti-aircraft missile brigades, 12th radio technical brigade and 64th radio technical regiment 152nd (Ak-tepe) and 179th guards (Nebit-Dag) fighter aviation regiments, some parts of the Caspian flotilla, and also a number of other military formations.
In the military-technical aspect, this Soviet legacy was characterized by the following figures: main and medium tanks - 530, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and armored personnel carriers - 1132, field artillery guns, mortars and MLRS caliber over 100 mm - 540, combat aircraft - 314, combat and other helicopters - 20, as well as several small warships and boats.
Border detachments were deployed on the territory of the Turkmen SSR (135th Nebit-Dagsky, 67th Karakalinsky, 71st Bakhardensky, 45th Serakhsky, 46th Kaakhkinsky, 47th Kerkinsky and 68th Takhta-Bazarsky), sea and river units of the border troops of the Central Asian border district of the KGB of the USSR. Until 1999, border protection in the Turkmen sector (including at sea) was carried out jointly with the border troops of the Russian Federation, but they left the territory of the country at the request of its leadership (which, according to independent experts, was primarily due to the desire of the ruling regime to control super-profitable drug traffic from Afghanistan).
In addition, the Turkmen received the material base and weapons of the units of the internal troops and civil defense forces of the former USSR located in the republic.
Having received mountains of Soviet weapons and embarking on the creation of national armed forces, Turkmenistan quickly faced the problem of a shortage of command personnel, since most of the "European" officers left the country that collapsed in the Middle Ages.
At present, this problem is being solved through the training of national officers in their own and foreign military educational institutions, however, the military professionalism of the bulk of Turkmen officers raises serious doubts, especially in specialties related to the operation of complex military equipment. So, until recently, there were only a few indigenous combat aviation pilots in the Turkmen armed forces. It got to the point that at pompous military parades the gaze of the "Turkmenbashi the great" caressed the flight of the aircraft piloted by pilots from Ukraine. A significant part of military equipment was sold (including through smuggling) to third countries.
Due to the specifics of the backward Turkmen society with its stable tribal traditions, recruiting of the Armed Forces with conscripts is carried out on the basis of the principle of extraterritoriality, and the command staff (including the highest) is at best subjected to frequent rotation, and at worst - to repression. Thus, the country's leadership does not allow the emergence of potentially dangerous tribalist local ties between the personnel and the population of a particular area, since they belong to different tribal groups. The persisting tribal and clan contradictions, in principle, determine one of the major flaws of the Turkmen military machine (to one degree or another, however, they are also characteristic of other countries of post-Soviet Central Asia).
The Turkmen army is engaged not so much in combat training as in forced labor in various industries and agriculture. As “Turkmenbashi” Niyazov himself stated, up to a third of all conscripts are sent to work in civil organizations.
It is unlikely that this situation changed fundamentally after his death in 2006: despite the well-known tension in relations between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (including because of the problem associated with the joint use of the Amu Darya waters) and Azerbaijan (due to the unsettled status of the Caspian - the most important reservoir of hydrocarbons) and the chronically unstable situation in Afghanistan (the border with which the Turkmen are guarded extremely unsatisfactorily, which causes Kazakhstan's concern), Ashgabat fears more anti-government sentiments in the army than an external threat.
Organizational structure and human potential of the armed forces of Turkmenistan
The military machine of Turkmenistan includes the troops and forces of the Ministry of Defense, the State Border Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Security Committee and the Presidential Security Service. In addition, it includes the State Courier Service and the State Service for the Registration of Foreign Citizens. The supreme commander in chief of the armed forces is the president of the country.
The actual armed forces, which are part of the structure of the Ministry of Defense, consist of the Army, the Air Force and Air Defense, the Navy, as well as specialized production and service formations employed in the civilian sector of the economy (they are led by the management of special formations of the General Staff). The total number of the Armed Forces as of 2007 is estimated at 26 thousand people, and taking into account production and service formations - up to 50 thousand.
In military-administrative terms, the territory of Turkmenistan is divided into 5 military districts in accordance with the administrative division of the country into the velayats of the same name - Akhal (center-Ashgabat), Balkan (Balkanabat), Dashoguz (Dashoguz), Lebap (Turkmenabad) and Mary (Mary).
According to the US CIA, the number of military manpower resources (men aged 15-49) in Turkmenistan is about 1.3 million people, of which about 1 million people are fit for military service. About 56 thousand men reach draft age (18 years) annually. The duration of conscript military service is 2 years, with the exception of the Navy, where the term of service is set at 2.5 years. Persons with higher education serve 1, 5 years (earlier this period was set for all conscripts).
The institute of contract military service in Turkmenistan was abolished in 2001, but it is legally established that conscripts, at their request, can do military service not from 18, but from 17 (apparently, there are a lot of such "volunteers" in totalitarian Turkmenistan, although there are many and deserters, for whose return to military units in the days of "Turkmenbashi" an amnesty was declared). The upper level of the draft age is 30 (higher only in Azerbaijan).
In accordance with the directives of the ruling regime, a course has been taken towards food self-sufficiency of the armed forces, and the combat training of personnel has been reduced to a minimum; in production and service formations, it is hardly carried out at all.
The training of officers of the Armed Forces is carried out at the Ashgabat Military Institute, and the military departments and faculties that previously existed at civilian universities have been closed in order to increase the annual recruitment of conscripts. In addition, some of the officers are trained in the military educational institutions of Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and Pakistan. The United States also provides some support in this regard.
The openly nationalist personnel policy of the ruling regime, aimed at replacing leading positions, incl.in the army, persons with a “purely Turkmen ancestry” in fjtex generations led to the displacement of “non-title” highly qualified personnel in favor of those whose dignity is not professionalism, but ethnic “title” and belonging to one or another loyal clan.
Turkmenistan buys weapons and military equipment from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Belarus and Ukraine (this is associated with an increase in the number of tanks in comparison with the Soviet "legacy"). In Georgia, at the Tbilisi aircraft plant, Turkmen Su-25 attack aircraft were repaired.
Ground troops
The number of SVs as of 2007 was estimated in various sources at 21-25 thousand people. At present, the process of their reforming is underway with the transition from the traditional Soviet divisional-regimental structure to a brigade structure, and the ground forces as a whole have a mixed divisional-brigade structure. Most of the formations are cropped, they are fully manned only when mobilized.
Each MSD consists of a tank, 3 motorized rifle, artillery and anti-aircraft artillery regiments, combat support and service units, and a brigade consists of the corresponding battalions and divisions.
The ground forces include:
-2nd training MSD named after Alp-Arslan (former Soviet 61st training MSD; Tejen);
3rd Army Motorized Rifle Division named after Bayram Khan - considered an elite unit and can be kept in a state close to the deployed one (former Soviet 84th Motorized Motorized Rifle Division; Ashgabat);
- 11th (according to other sources, the 357th) MRD named after Sultan Sanjar (former Soviet 88th MRD; Kushka, officially Serhetabad);
- 22nd Motorized Rifle Division named after Atamurat Niyazov (former Soviet 58th Motorized Motorized Rifle Division; Kizyl-Arvat - officially Serdar);
- 4th MSB named after Togrul-Beg;
- 5th MSB named after Chagra-bega;
- 6th MSB named after Gerogly-bega;
- 152nd Airborne Assault Brigade (Mary);
-? -th missile brigade - possibly disbanded (operational-tactical missile system 9K72);
-? -th artillery brigade (152-mm howitzers 2A65 "Meta-B"; Ashgabat);
-? th rocket artillery regiment (220-mm 16-barreled MLRS 9P140 "Uragan"; Ashgabat);
- 2 anti-aircraft missile air defense brigades of the ground forces
-? -th engineer-sapper regiment (Ashgabat);
-? - 1st airborne special forces battalion (Ashgabat);
- the central military training ground (Kelat).
In service with the ground forces there are (as of 2007):
main tanks T-72 - 702 (according to other sources 808);
BMP-1 and BMP-2 - 855-930 (approximately equally);
BRM-1K - 12;
BTR-60, BTR-70 and BTR-80 - 829;
BRDM-2 -170;
PU of the 9K72 - 27 operational-tactical missile system (according to some sources, 12 launchers were returned to Russia in 2002-03);
152-mm self-propelled howitzers 2G3 "Akatsiya" - 16;
122-mm self-propelled howitzers 2S1 "Carnation" - 40;
120-mm combined self-propelled guns (mortar howitzers) 2S9 "Nona-S" - 17;
152 mm D-1 howitzers - 76;
152-mm howitzers 2A65 "Msta-B" - 72;
152-mm howitzer cannon D-20 - 20-72;
122 mm howitzers D-ZO -180;
220-mm 16-barreled MLRS 9P140 "Hurricane" - 54;
122-mm 40-barreled MLRS BM-21 "Grad" - 56;
122-mm 36-barrel MLRS 9P138 "Grad-1" - 9;
120-mm mortars PM-38, M-120 and (or) 2B11 (complex 2S12 "Sani") - 66;
82-mm mortars BM-37 and (or) 2B14-1 "Tray" - 31;
100-mm anti-tank guns T-12 and (or) MT-12 "Rapier" - 72;
PU anti-tank missile systems of various types - at least 100;
73-mm mounted anti-tank grenade launchers SPG-9 "Spear" -?;
40-mm hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers RPG-7 - 400;
23-mm quadruple ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" - 48;
57-mm anti-aircraft guns S-60 - 22;
Launchers for self-propelled short-range air defense missile systems "Osa" - 40;
PU self-propelled short-range air defense systems "Strela-10" - 13;
MANPADS "Strela-2" - 300.
A significant part of weapons and military equipment is not combat-ready
Air Force and Air Defense Forces
The number of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces as of 2007 is estimated at 4, 3 thousand people. In their composition, according to contradictory information in 2007-08, there are:
- 99th Air Base (67th Mixed Aviation Regiment; Mary-2): MiG-29 fighters, Su-17MZ fighter-bombers, possibly Su-25 attack aircraft;
- 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Nebit-Dag, officially - Balakanabad) - may have been disbanded: MiG-23M fighters are not ready;
- 107th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Aktepe, near Ashgabat): MiG-23M fighter-interceptors, MiG-25PD fighter-interceptors, Su-25 attack aircraft - the last two types, most likely, are not ready;
- 47th separate mixed aviation squadron (Aktepe): light military transport aircraft An-24 and An-26, combat helicopters Mi-24, medium transport and combat helicopters Mi-8;
- 31st separate mixed aviation squadron (Chardzhou - officially Turkmenabat) - existence in question: MiG-21 fighters, Su-7B fighter-bombers, Yak-, 28P fighter-interceptors, JI-39 Albatros training aircraft, medium military transport aircraft An-12 - most likely, all non-ready;
-56th aviation equipment storage base (Kizyl-Arvat): MiG-23 fighters and Su-17 fighter-bombers;
- training center: fighter-bombers Su-7B and training aircraft L-39 "Albatross", - 1st anti-aircraft missile brigade named after Turkmenbashi (headquarters and a separate radio technical battalion - Bikrava near Ashgabat, anti-aircraft missile regiments in the areas of Murgaba / 13th zrp, Kurtli and Turkmenbashi - former Krasnovodsk): Large air defense system (S-200), medium (C-75) and short (C-125) range;
-? -th anti-aircraft missile brigade - presumably (possibly armed with an army self-propelled medium-range air defense system "Krug");
2nd radio technical brigade (2960 people, 129 RSL of various types, scattered throughout the country).
The Air Force and Air Defense Forces fleet includes vehicles:
fighters MiG-29 - 22;
combat training aircraft MiG-29UB - 2;
fighter-interceptors MiG-23M - 230 (including combat training aircraft MiG-23UB);
fighters MiG-21 - 3;
interceptor fighters MiG-25PD - 24;
• * fighter-interceptors Yak-28P ^?;
Su-17M fighter-bombers - ^ 65 (including Su-17UM combat training aircraft);
fighter-bombers Su-7B - 3;
attack aircraft Su-25 - 46 (including combat training Su-25UB); ‘
trainer aircraft JI-39 "Albatross" - 2;
medium military transport aircraft An-12 -?; N
light military transport aircraft An-24 - 1;
light military transport aircraft An-26 - 10;
light military transport aircraft An-2 - 10; «V • combat helicopters Mi-24 -G-10;
medium transport-combat and landing-transport helicopters Mi-8 - 20.
In the ranks, according to experts, at best, there are nominally 24 MiG-29 / 29UB (they are being repaired in Ukraine at the Lviv Aircraft Repair Plant), up to 50 MiG-23M, 65 Su-17M / UM, 3 Su-7B, a certain number Su-25, 2 L-39, 1 An-26, 10 Mi-24 and 8 Mi-8. The rest of the machines are in storage, with no prospect of use. The number of pilots capable of fully performing combat missions is estimated at 10-15 people.
With technical assistance from Ukraine, the resource of guided air-to-air missiles for fighter aircraft is being extended.
The number of large (S-200), medium (S-75) and short (S-125) air defense missile launchers is estimated at about 100 units, of which about 30 are considered to be actually combat-ready. intelligence "Kolchuga" supplied by Ukraine.
Air Force reserve - civil aviation of Turkmenistan. The national airline Turkmenistan Airlines, filed in 2006, had 30 aircraft: 4 An-24RV, 7 Boeing 717-200, 3 Boeing 737-300, 4 Boeing 757-200, 1 - Boeing-767-300EYA, 7 - Yak-40 and 4 cargo aircraft IL-76TD, which can be used for transportation and landing of military equipment.
Naval forces
Although modern Turkmen historiography has already sunk in its research to the assertion that "Turkmen seafarers, among whom were famous sailors, reached the shores of Venice and other European countries," this extremely bold statement can be put on a par with the "discovery" of the fact that Othello was not just a Moor, but a Turkmen Moor (which the Ashgabat “historians” have also thought of recently).
In fact, the maritime component of the national history of the Turkmen boils down mainly to their pursuit of primitive fishing in the Caspian, for which the representatives of this people used Taimun boats carved out of wood. In the late 1930s. a group of Turkmen fishermen, in order to prove the seaworthiness of the Taimuns and their great love for comrade Stalin, made a long voyage, first along the stormy Caspian Sea, then along the Volga and the Moscow to the Kremlin itself. So they still have some maritime traditions.
In the post-war period, the following multi-departmental naval structures of the USSR were deployed in Turkmenistan:
- 228th brigade of ships for the protection of the water area of the Caspian Flotilla (patrol boat pr. 205M, patrol boat pr. 14081, base minesweeper pr. 1252 and two air-cushion boats - probably assault landing craft pr. 1205; basing point - port of Krasnovodsk);
46th separate division of border patrol ships and boats of the Central Asian border district of the KGB of the USSR (4-5 patrol boats pr. 1400; basing point - port of Krasnovodsk);
- a detachment of river border boats of the Central Asian frontier district of the KGB of the USSR on the Amu Darya River (the border with Afghanistan, the base point is the village of Kelif) - perhaps a similar detachment was on the Atrek River (the border with Iran);
a separate training coastal missile division of the Caspian Flotilla (Jafara village) Almost all the ships that were in the 228th brigade and the border guards were transferred to Turkmenistan, and for some time (until 1999), two border boats guarding the sea border with Iran were mixed Russian-Turkmen crews. Russian officers of the former Soviet Navy also served on ships of the Turkmen Navy (their first commander was Captain 1st Rank Valerian Repin).
At present, the Turkmen Navy (the only naval base is the port of Turkmenbashi, formerly Krasnovodsk) is under the operational control of the command of the country's border troops. Estimates of the number of their personnel in different sources differ greatly: in some - 125 people, in others - 700 (as of 2007), in some - even 2000 and even 3000 (which is very doubtful).
The naval structure of the Navy is represented by 16 patrol boats: 10 of the "Grif" type (pr. 1400 and 1400M, former Soviet and Ukrainian delivery); one - type "Point" (PB129 "Mergen" - former "Point Jackson", transferred from the US Coast Guard); one - of the "Saigak" type (project 14081, former Soviet), four - of the "Kalkan-M" type (Ukrainian supply; perhaps there are already more of them). There is a former Soviet base minesweeper of the Korund type (project 1252).
Presumably, all of them are brought together in a brigade of ships for the protection of the water area. The number of boats of the "Grif" type is planned to be increased to 20 units by purchasing their improved version "Grif-T" ("Condor"), and of the "Kalkan-M" type - up to 10 (those others are being built and supplied by Ukraine). There is information about the transfer by Iran of some patrol boats for rent, but the details of this are not known. The completely absurd information that sometimes appears in the press about the lease of an Iranian destroyer by the Turkmen should be attributed to the blatant incompetence of the "writers" who disseminate it.
Judging by the parades held during the life of the dictator Niyazov, the Navy also has a marine corps - according to some sources, a battalion, according to others - a brigade (in fact, these are coastal defense troops, not adapted for amphibious operations due to the lack of landing craft).
On the island of Ogurchinsky (in Turkmen Ogurjaly) in the Gulf of Turkmenistan, there is a coastal observation and communications post of the Navy.
The combat effectiveness of the Turkmen military "fleet", as well as of the armed forces of this country, is more than doubtful.
In the Turkmen merchant fleet for 2003, according to the US CIA, in addition to a few trifles, there were only 2 large ships - a tanker and an oil carrier with a total displacement of 6,873 grt.
Production and service formations
The number of personnel of production and service formations of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan is estimated at no less than 20 thousand people. They work in various industries and agriculture of the country and, in addition, are involved in the performance of the functions of employees of the state automobile inspection, firefighters, bank guards, post office, telegraph: orderlies in hospitals, etc.
Other military (paramilitary) formations and special services
Ministry of Internal Affairs - the number of personnel is estimated at 27 thousand people (including internal troops).
h The National Security Committee (KNB) (estimated number 2, 5-4 thousand people) is the main special service of the country. The KNB mainly performs the tasks of the political secret police (carrying out, in particular, brutal repressions in the NKVD style against the opposition), and also deals with the operational cover of the ruling elite's criminal business (supply of weapons, drugs, etc.). In particular, with the direct participation of the KNB, arms and ammunition were supplied to the Afghan Taliban and direct contacts were established with their leadership. Weapons, incl. exported from Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, with the mediation of the KNB and the involvement of private firms as "roofs", was supplied to South Yemen.
The real contribution of the KNB to its declared fight against drug trafficking is eloquently evidenced by, for example, the fact of the execution by a military tribunal of a major of the Turkmen border service Vitaly Usachev, who was trying to interfere with drug trafficking through the Ashgabat airport. The poor major made two of the most serious mistakes in his life: firstly, he remained to serve "independent Turkmenistan", and secondly, he tried to serve this state honestly …
It should be noted that the KNB itself was subjected to repeated repressions both during the life of the "Turkmenbashi" and after his death - the rulers of Turkmenistan in their own special services see a danger to themselves (apparently, not without reason).
The State Border Service has about 12 thousand personnel. The border troops include 8 border detachments, including Bekdash, Kushkinsky, Kerkinsky and Koytendagsky. The protection of the maritime border under the operational leadership of the State Border Service is carried out by the country's navy (see above). In addition, on the Amu Darya River (the Kelif base point), six small border boats of the Aist type (project 1398, former Soviet) are used.
The security service of the President of Turkmenistan numbers, according to various estimates, from 1 to 2 thousand people.
