The Republic of Kazakhstan is one of the most important CSTO allies for our country. The special significance of Kazakhstan is associated both with its geographic location and occupied area, and with the presence in the republic of a number of unique defense facilities. During the Soviet era, the territory of the Kazakh SSR was used to house various training grounds and test centers. Nuclear warheads were tested here, air and missile defense systems were tested.
Taking into account the special role of Kazakhstan in ensuring the country's defense capability, very serious air defense forces were concentrated on its territory. In the form of a Soviet legacy, the republic received equipment and weapons from the 33rd Air Defense Division from the 37th Air Defense Corps, which in turn was part of the 12th Separate Air Defense Army. The 33rd Air Defense Forces included the 87th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, the 145th Guards Orsha Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, the 132nd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, the 60th and 133rd radio technical brigades, the 41st radio engineering regiment. Parts of the 56th corps from the 14th Air Defense Army, stationed in Kazakhstan, were represented by four anti-aircraft missile regiments: the 374th air defense regiment, the 420th air defense regiment, the 769th air defense regiment and the 770th air defense regiment. Until 1991, two air defense fighter aviation regiments were also deployed in Kazakhstan on the MiG-31 and MiG-23MLD interceptors (the 356th IAP in Semipalatinsk and the 905th Fighter Aviation Regiment - on the MiG-23MLD in Taldy-Kurgan). Along with the air defense interceptor fighters of the independent republic, the front-line fighters of the 73rd Air Army retreated: the 27th Guards Vyborg Red Banner Fighter Aviation Regiment - to the MiG-21bis and MiG-23MLD in Ucharal and the 715th uap in Lugovoy to the MiG-23MLD and MiG -29. A number of MiG-25PDS and MiG-31 interceptors were available at test centers and test sites. In particular, Kazakhstan received several MiG-31Ds, adapted for use as part of an airborne anti-satellite system, designed to destroy low-orbit satellites. But in Kazakhstan, fighters equipped with anti-satellite missiles were not in demand. In the early 90s, the MiG-31D was put into storage in one of the hangars of the Saryshagan airfield near the town of Priozersk. In total, in 1991, the Kazakhstan Air Force included about 200 fighters capable of performing air defense missions.
On June 1, 1998, the Air Defense Forces (SVO) were formed in Kazakhstan, in which the Air Force and Air Defense Forces were united under one command. In the late 90s, in connection with the decommissioning of the MiG-21 bis, MiG-23MLD and MiG-25PDS and part of the MiG-29, the question arose of replenishing the fighter fleet. Su-27S heavy fighters were of the greatest interest to the Air Defense Forces of Kazakhstan. The first four aircraft of this type were transferred from the Russian Air Force in 1996. A number of media outlets indicate that 4th generation fighters were delivered to Kazakhstan in exchange for the Tu-95MS strategic missile carriers withdrawn in 1992, which were based at the Chagan airbase, not far from the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. In total, from 1996 to 2001, the Air Defense Forces received about three dozen Su-27S and Su-27UB. There is information that the used Su-27S and "twin" Su-27UB were received at a discounted price, due to the payment of the lease for the Baikonur cosmodrome.
In 2007, 10 Su-27S and Su-27UB were sent for refurbishment and modernization to Belarus at the 558th aircraft repair plant in Baranovichi. In the course of modernization, the Kazakh “dryers” were equipped with a satellite navigation system, electronic warfare and communication equipment of Belarusian production. Thanks to the adaptation of the Lightning-3 target designation system produced by the Israeli company Rafael on the modernized fighters for Kazakhstan, the range of high-precision weapons has been expanded. After modernization, the fighters were assigned the designation Su-27BM2 and Su-27UBM2. According to open sources, the main base of Kazakhstani Su-27s is the 604th airbase in Taldykorgan. Also, Su-27 fighters are deployed at the 605th airbase in Aktau.
According to Kazakh sources, the SVO is currently armed with 25 MiG-31 heavy interceptor fighters. Interceptors MiG-31B, MiG-31BS, MiG-31DZ are based at the 610th airbase in Karaganda.
About two dozen cars are in flight condition. It is reported that in the future, Kazakhstani MiG-31s must undergo modernization and overhaul in Russia at the 514th aircraft repair plant in Rzhev.
The main task of the 610th airbase, where the MiG-31s are located, is to protect the capital of Kazakhstan. In Karaganda, at least two interceptors with a full ammunition load are constantly on alert. Upon receipt of the command, the MiG-31 should take off in 7 minutes. In 20 minutes after take-off, they can already patrol over Astana.
In addition to the Su-27 and MiG-31, the Air Defense Forces include 12 single-seat MiG-29s and two "twin" MiG-29UBs. MiGs are permanently stationed at the 602nd airbase in Shymkent, and these aircraft, along with MiG-27 fighter-bombers and Su-25 attack aircraft, are based in Taldykurgan.
How many Kazakhstani MiG-29s are in flight condition is unknown, but with a high degree of confidence it can be argued that light fighters built in the USSR are in the final stage of their life cycle. More than 20 MiG-29s that flew their resource are now stored at the Zhetygen airbase, 50 km northeast of Almaty. It is also quite obvious that despite the modernization of parts of the Su-27 and MiG-31, the fleet of these machines will be greatly reduced in the next few years due to the depletion of the resource. To compensate for the "natural loss" of Soviet-made fighters in 2014, at the KADEX-2014 exhibition in Astana, an agreement was signed on ordering a batch of Su-30SM multifunctional fighters.
During the conclusion of the contract, a significant discount was made to Kazakhstan, according to unconfirmed reports, the cost of the Su-30SM is the same as for the Russian Aerospace Forces. In total, the Kazakhstan Air Defense Forces should receive 24 aircraft. The first four brand new Su-30SMs arrived from the Irkutsk Aviation Production Association in April 2015. At the moment, there are 8 Su-30SMs in the republic, all of them are located at the 604th airbase in Taldykurgan.
Assessing the state of the fighter component of the NWO of the Republic of Kazakhstan, it can be noted that for the ninth largest country in the world, whose territory is 2 724 902 km², six dozen fighters, most of which are about 30 years old, are clearly not enough not only to protect strategic objects, but also for effective airspace control. However, the combat readiness of the fighter fleet and the training of the pilots are at a fairly high level. During joint exercises, Kazakhstani pilots invariably demonstrate a very high level of training and are among the best among the CIS countries. The average flight time per fighter pilot in Kazakhstan exceeds 120 hours.
In 1991, about 80 S-75, S-125, S-200 and S-300P air defense systems were deployed on the territory of Kazakhstan. Some more anti-aircraft complexes were in warehouses. In addition, the republic received huge reserves of anti-aircraft missiles, spare parts, liquid rocket fuel and an oxidizer. In Soviet times, the airspace of the USSR from the south was covered by a belt of positions of anti-aircraft missile systems, stretching through the western and central part of Turkmenistan, the center of Uzbekistan, southern and eastern regions of Kazakhstan. The main part of the complexes deployed at these positions was C-75M2 / M3. An anti-aircraft belt with a length of almost 3,000 km was supposed to prevent a possible breakthrough of American strategic bombers from the south.
Also, Kazakhstan got at least one brigade set of military complexes on the tracked chassis "Circle" and "Cube". In the army air defense of the divisional and regimental level, there were more than two hundred air defense systems "Osa-AK / AKM", "Strela-1", "Strela-10" and ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", as well as several hundred anti-aircraft guns: 100- mm KS-19, 57 mm S-60, twin 23 mm ZU-23 and more than 300 MANPADS.
The stocks of weapons that Kazakhstan inherited far exceeded the needs of the newly independent republic. After the collapse of the USSR, the maintenance of numerous anti-aircraft complexes at the positions no longer made sense. Taking into account the relatively low population density in the south and east of the country, the leadership of Kazakhstan decided to cover up the most significant industrial, political and defense centers of the republic. At present, the air defense of Kazakhstan has a pronounced focal character. Combat duty, according to official data, is carried by 20 anti-aircraft missile divisions.
It can be noted that, thanks to the large stocks of missiles and spare parts, not only the S-300PS anti-aircraft missile systems built in the mid-to-late 80s, but also the first-generation S-75M3, S-125M / M1 and S-200VM complexes, have survived. built 35-40 years ago.
The "long arm" of the air defense of Kazakhstan is the S-200VM air defense system with a range of 240 km. Until now, apart from Russia, not a single republic of the former USSR has been armed with complexes and anti-aircraft systems that surpass the "two hundred" in range and height of target destruction. Currently, there are C-200VM positions in the north-west of the city of Karaganda and in the west of the republic in the Munailinsky region, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, south of the city of Aktau and north of Alma-Ata - a total of four target channels. Satellite images show that combat duty is being conducted by a reduced composition. Of the six "guns", only three are loaded with missiles. Which, however, is not surprising, the long-range S-200 air defense systems of all modifications have always been very complex and expensive complexes to operate.
Nevertheless, there is no talk about the refusal of the Kazakh military from the modernized "Vega" yet. In addition to the record range and height of destruction, 5V28 anti-aircraft missiles look very impressive during military parades.
Oddly enough, the S-75M3 air defense systems are still preserved in the republic's SVO. After removing the main part of the complexes from combat duty, the most recent "seventy-fives" were sent to storage bases and subsequently became "donors" of spare parts for air defense systems in service. However, at the moment, the S-75M3 are used by Kazakhstani air defense forces to a limited extent.
It is reliably known that a maximum of three anti-aircraft battalions are on alert, and several more air defense systems are in storage. Currently, the complexes of the C-75 family no longer meet modern requirements in terms of noise immunity and the possibility of hitting actively maneuvering targets. In addition, they are unable to deal with cruise missiles traveling at low altitudes.
As part of the S-75 air defense missile system, rockets are used, fueled with liquid fuel and a caustic oxidizer that ignites flammable substances. During combat duty, after a certain time interval, the missile defense system is removed from the launchers and sent for maintenance with fuel and oxidizer draining. And the launchers are charged with ready-to-use missiles prepared in the technical division. Due to all these circumstances, the combat value of the S-75 in modern conditions is not great.
Due to the costly and time-consuming process of preparing missiles, the bulk of the states, where in the past there were S-75s, have already abandoned them. However, Kazakhstan is an exception, and satellite images clearly show that all launchers in the divisions on alert are loaded. Even taking into account the huge stock of spare parts, one should expect that the Kazakh military will finally abandon the "seventy-five" in the next few years. An indirect confirmation of this is the transfer of the existing S-75M3 air defense systems to Kyrgyzstan, and this despite the fact that Kazakhstan itself receives used C-300PS air defense systems from Russia.
In addition to medium and long-range complexes with liquid-propellant missiles, the Air Defense Forces of Kazakhstan have 18 modernized S-125-2TM "Pechora-2TM" air defense systems in Belarus. Simultaneously with carrying out refurbishment at NPO Tetraedr, it was possible to significantly increase the efficiency and reliability of low-altitude complexes. After the modernization, it became possible to deal with modern and promising air attack weapons in a difficult jamming environment. In exceptional cases, the air defense system can be used to destroy observed ground and surface targets.
Military mobile complexes "Krug" and "Kub" were also involved in combat duty. So, the Krug air defense missile system until 2014 covered the Ayaguz military airfield in the East Kazakhstan region. SAM "Kub" until mid-2016 was deployed in the vicinity of the military airfield Zhetygen in the Ili district of the Almaty region of Kazakhstan.
At present, due to the extreme wear and tear of the hardware and the lack of conditioned anti-aircraft missiles, the Kazakh air defense systems "Kub" and "Krug" are not involved in permanent combat duty. However, according to information published on the First Law Enforcement Site of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Krug air defense missile system participated in the second stage of the Combat Commonwealth air defense exercise held at the Saryshagan training ground in August 2017.
Although the Air Defense Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan have a significant number of first-generation anti-aircraft systems, the S-300PS multi-channel long-range anti-aircraft missile systems are of the greatest combat value. According to open sources, during the division of Soviet military property, Kazakhstan received only one fully equipped S-300PS division. However, elements of the S-300P anti-aircraft systems were also available at the ranges, where test and control-training firing was conducted.
To maintain the anti-aircraft systems in working order, the S-300PS divisional kit underwent refurbishment in Ukraine at the beginning of the 21st century. However, due to the lack of conditioned 5В55Р anti-aircraft missiles, combat duty was carried out in a reduced composition, and 2-4 launchers were often in positions.
In the late 90s, repairs and minor modernization of the "three hundred" were established at the Kazakh enterprise SKTB "Granit". The production and technical enterprise "Granit" was established in Alma-Ata by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR back in 1976. Until 1992, the Granite enterprise "Granit" was the head organization providing work on installation, adjustment, docking, state testing and maintenance of prototypes and proving grounds of electronic missile defense systems and missile attack warning systems at the Saryshagan training ground. And also participated in tests of the S-300PT / PS / PM long-range air defense systems.
In 2015, 5 S-300PS anti-aircraft battalions were deployed to positions in Kazakhstan. There was also a certain amount of equipment that needed refurbishment and modernization and was in warehouses. First of all, this applied to the radar and battalion control equipment. We must pay tribute to the Kazakh leadership, which did not sit idly by, but initiated the development of repairs and minor modernization at their own enterprises.
About 6 years ago, in the vicinity of Almaty, the construction of workshops began, where the restoration of anti-aircraft systems built in the USSR should be carried out. On December 28, 2017, in the suburban Almaty village of Burunday, a service center for the repair of S-300P anti-aircraft missile systems was solemnly opened. Although the technical support of air defense systems is usually carried out by the manufacturer, in relation to the S-300PS it is the Russian defense concern Almaz-Antey, the Kazakh side managed to obtain such powers. The service center for air defense systems was created on the basis of the special design and technological bureau "Granit". At the same time, the Russian side provided Kazakhstan with a package of technical documentation for the S-300PS, without the right to transfer it to third countries.
In 2015, it became known that five S-300PS divisions, command complexes of the 170 missile defense system 5V55RM, which were previously at the storage bases of the Russian Aerospace Forces, were transferred to Kazakhstan free of charge. As of the beginning of 2018, two divisional kits and one KPS were restored in the service center of SKTB Granit, which had already begun to be on alert. Three more S-300PS air defense systems are awaiting their turn. Armenia has expressed interest in repairing its S-300PT / PS at SKTB Granit enterprise. The Kazakh side expressed its readiness to accept Russian anti-aircraft missile systems for repairs in the future.
Due to the fact that tests of various complexes and air defense systems were carried out at the testing grounds of the Kazakh SSR, after the collapse of the USSR, many of the latest models of radar equipment remained on the territory of the republic, including radars: 5U75 Periscope-V, 35D6 (ST-68UM) and 22ZH6M "Desna-M". However, left without technical support, the newest stations were soon mostly out of order and now control of the republic's airspace is carried out by rather old radars P-18, P-19, 5N84, P-37, 5N59. Non-compliance with modern requirements in terms of reliability and noise immunity, lack of spare parts and physical wear and tear forced Kazakhstan to begin work on the modernization of Soviet radars in standby mode 5N84 (Defense-14) and P-18 (Terek) to the level of 5N84M and P-18M. Specialists of SKTB "Granit" have created modernized versions of the radar with the transfer of the hardware to a modern element base. As of December 2017, over 40 radars have been upgraded.
More than half of the restored and modernized stations are P-18 VHF radars, upgraded to the P-18M level. After the transfer from the electrovacuum element base to the solid-state one, the information update rate increased by 10%, the detection range increased, the MTBF increased several times, the ease of operation was ensured with the automation of diagnostics, the service life was extended by 12 years.
Simultaneously with the repair and restoration of Soviet-made radars in Kazakhstan, efforts were made to gain access to a new generation of radar technology. At the beginning of the 21st century, Kazakhstani representatives at exhibitions of weapons and military equipment showed great interest in the latest mobile radars of foreign production and were actively looking for possible partners capable of sharing technologies. Negotiations on the possibility of joint production of the radar were conducted with Israel, Spain, France, Russia and the United States. Initially, Kazakhstani specialists tended to purchase Spanish locators from Indra Sistemas. But since there were difficulties in linking the Spanish radars with the equipment for determining nationality created at the Granit SKTB, this option was not considered in the future. In 2013, a contract was signed with the French company Thales Group. The agreement provided for the establishment of a joint production of the Ground Master 400 (GM400) radar, which has a phased antenna array and is capable of efficiently operating in conditions of electronic interference.
In May 2014, in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, at the exhibition of defense products KADEX-2014, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with representatives of Thales Raytheon Systems, providing for the supply of 20 radars. To assemble French radars in Kazakhstan, a joint venture Granit - Thales Electronics was established with the participation of Thales and SKTB Granit. In 2014, the first station, assembled in Kazakhstan, was transferred to the radio engineering division near Astana. The radar is capable of measuring the altitude, range and azimuth of an air target. One such system replaces standby radar and radio altimeter, which are individually capable of determining range and azimuth, or altitude and azimuth.
In 2015, after trial operation, the official adoption of the three-coordinate radar station of the centimeter range "NUR" (GM 403), designed on a modern element base, took place in the armament of Kazakhstan's radio engineering units. Currently, the NWO of Kazakhstan operates two stations - near Karaganda in Saran and near Astana in Malinovka. In 2018, the Kazakh military should receive three more stations.
According to the information announced by the General Director of SKTB Granit LLP, the GM 403 radar installed on the KamAZ chassis has a detection range of large high-altitude targets of up to 450 km. The radar is capable of operating autonomously, without human intervention, and tracking air targets in the coverage area around the clock. After processing the information, the finished package is transmitted to the central command post of the air defense. At present, the level of localization when assembling the NUR radar station in Kazakhstan reaches 28%. The NATO-standard radar system is integrated by a ground interrogator, developed by specialists from the Special Design and Technical Bureau "Granit". At the same time, it was allegedly possible to coordinate the codes received from the French with the "Password" system for determining nationality. Currently, the need for air defense systems in Kazakhstan is estimated at 40 Nur radar. Also, the Republic of Belarus and Azerbaijan have shown interest in radars of this type.
Among the CSTO countries, the Republic of Kazakhstan ranks second after Russia in terms of the number of fighter aircraft, the number of deployed anti-aircraft missile divisions and radar posts. The air situation is monitored by more than 40 radar posts, equipped mainly with modernized Soviet-made radars. This makes it possible for radio engineering units to form a radar field over the entire territory of the republic, which, of course, is only possible if radars are operational, whose service life often exceeds 30 years. At the same time, experts in the field of radar rightly point out that Soviet-made stations: P-18, P-37 and 5N84, which are mainly equipped with RTVs of the Air Defense Forces of Kazakhstan, are unable to reliably detect air targets flying at an altitude of less than 200 m, and there are few low-altitude radars P-19 in Kazakhstan and they are close to the full depletion of the operational resource.
At the moment, according to Kazakh sources, there are 20 air defense missiles in the NWO, of which only half are armed with relatively modern S-300PS air defense systems. The rest are the S-200VM, S-125-2TM and S-75M3 air defense systems. Taking into account the size of the territory of Kazakhstan, the air defense system of the republic has a pronounced focal character, and it is absolutely unrealistic to fight off full-scale aggression from a technologically strong enemy with the available forces, which has at its disposal numerous and modern means of air attack. In addition, not all Kazakhstani anti-aircraft missile divisions are combat-ready, the equipment of approximately 4-5 zrdn needs repair and modernization and therefore does not carry constant combat duty.
Since January 2013, a fairly close and mutually beneficial cooperation has been conducted between Russia and Kazakhstan within the framework of the Agreement on the Creation of a Unified Regional Air Defense System. Kazakhstan is an active member of the CSTO, has one of the longest external borders in Eurasia and a vast airspace, which is actively used in various strategic directions. A close exchange of information on the air situation in the Central Asian region is carried out between our countries and the Central Command Post of the NWO of Kazakhstan has a multi-channel connection with the Central Command Post of the Air Defense of the Aerospace Forces of Russia. But, as in the case of the Republic of Belarus, the general management of its own air defense forces is subordinate to the national command, and the decision on the use of weapons of fire is taken by the military-political leadership of Kazakhstan.
Two other Central Asian republics - Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which are also formally part of the CIS Joint Air Defense System, do not possess any significant forces capable of posing a threat to air attack weapons of a potential aggressor. In the days of the Soviet Union, the air defense of facilities on the territory of Kyrgyzstan was provided by the 145th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, which was part of the 33rd Air Defense Division. In total, 8 battalions C-75M2 / M3 and C-125M were deployed along the border with Kazakhstan and in the vicinity of Frunze. In addition, the Osa-AKM, Strela-10 and ZSU-23-4 air defense military systems were present in the 8th Guards Motorized Rifle Division and the 30th Separate Motorized Rifle Regiment. Formed in May 1992, the Kyrgyz armed forces also received several dozen MANPADS and anti-aircraft guns of 23 and 57-mm caliber. Subsequently, 23-mm ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns and 57-mm S-60 anti-aircraft guns were used against the militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan who invaded the country. In the course of hostilities in mountainous terrain, 57-mm anti-aircraft guns installed on tracked tractors showed themselves very well. The large elevation angle and high muzzle velocity, combined with a sufficiently powerful fragmentation projectile, made it possible to conduct effective fire at targets located on mountain slopes at a distance of several thousand meters.
After gaining independence, all the MiG-21s of the 322nd Training Aviation Regiment were transferred to Kyrgyzstan, where, in addition to training cadets of the Frunze Military Aviation School, military pilots from developing countries friendly to the USSR were trained. In total, the republic got about 70 single combat and two-seat training fighters.
Some of the aircraft were sold abroad in the 90s, the rest, due to lack of proper care, quickly deteriorated and became unsuitable for flying. In independent Kyrgyzstan, there were no financial resources to maintain in flight condition even very easy-to-operate MiG-21s. Until 2014, the remaining thirty MiG-21s in the republic were “stored” at the Kant airbase. At present, almost all Kyrgyz MiGs have been "scrapped", several aircraft have been preserved as monuments.
However, the air defense system of Kyrgyzstan has not completely degraded. Thanks to Russian and Kazakh support, the republic has one C-75M3 and two C-125M1 air defense systems in a relatively combat-ready state. Relatively recently, the transfer of the S-75M3 air defense system, anti-aircraft missiles and spare parts from the armed forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan took place.
As of 2017, two C-125M1 and one C-75M3 divisions were deployed in the vicinity of Bishkek. There are six radar posts on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, where the P-18 and P-37 radars are operated. The most modern radars 36D6 and 22Zh6 are operated by the Russian military at the Kant airbase.
Kant airbase is located 20 km east of Bishkek. The agreement on the creation of the Russian 999th air base in Kyrgyzstan was signed in September 2003. Currently, a dozen and a half Russian Su-25 attack aircraft and L-39 combat training aircraft are based at the airbase. As well as military transport An-26, Il-76 and Mi-8 helicopters. The reconstruction of the airbase is planned for the near future, after which fighter-interceptors can be deployed here, if necessary.
Historically, the armed forces of Tajikistan, when dividing the Soviet military legacy, practically did not get the equipment and weapons of the air defense forces. The civil war that began in the republic in the early 90s led to the collapse of the airspace control and air traffic control system. To create a radar field over the territory of Tajikistan in the second half of the 90s, Russia donated several radars P-18, P-37, 5N84A and 36D6, which are still used to monitor the air situation and regulate the movement of aircraft. Also, as part of the provision of military assistance, one C-75M3 air defense system and two C-125M1 were delivered. Three anti-aircraft missile divisions were included in the 536th anti-aircraft missile regiment of the armed forces of Tajikistan. However, the Tajik military was unable to maintain the C-75M3 air defense missile system with liquid missiles in working order, and this complex was decommissioned at the beginning of the 21st century. At the moment, two divisions C-125M1 and "Pechora-2M" are deployed in the vicinity of Dushanbe. The transfer of the upgraded Pechora-2M complex to the armed forces of Tajikistan took place in 2009.
All radar posts available on the territory of the republic are located not far from the Tajik capital. Thus, the southern regions of the republic, taking into account the mountainous nature of the terrain, are very poorly controlled. Currently, Tajikistan does not have its own combat aircraft capable of intercepting air targets and patrolling air lines. In addition to the S-125 air defense system, the Tajik army has a number of ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns and MANPADS. Of course, the combat value of the Kyrgyz and Tajik air defense systems is not great. Radars operating in Central Asia are of much greater importance, provided they are included in the unified data exchange system of the CIS air defense OS. Of considerable value on the territory of the Central Asian republics are the preserved runways, to which, if necessary, Russian combat aircraft can be deployed.
In 2004, in Tajikistan, on the basis of the 201st motorized rifle Gatchina twice Red Banner division, the 201st Russian military base was formed (the official name is the 201st Gatchina Order of Zhukov twice Red Banner military base). Russian troops are stationed in the cities of Dushanbe and Kurgan-Tyube. The air defense of the group of Russian troops in Tajikistan is provided by short-range military mobile complexes: 12 Osa-AKM, 6 Strela-10 and 6 ZSU ZSU-23-4 Shilka. Also at the disposal of the Russian military are towed anti-aircraft guns ZU-23 and MANPADS "Igla".
According to a number of sources, the Indian Air Force Base Parkhar is located 130 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe, located near the city of Farkhora. It is the first and only Indian Air Force base outside its own territory. India has invested about $ 70 million in rebuilding the airfield infrastructure. Currently, information regarding the operation of the airbase is classified, and the Tajik authorities in the past have generally denied the presence of an Indian facility on their territory. According to some reports, Mi-17 helicopters, Kiran training aircraft and MiG-29 fighters are located at the base. To support flights, the airfield must have radar stations, but it is unclear whether data from them is provided to the Tajik and Russian military.
Of the former Soviet republics in the Transcaucasus, only Armenia is a member of the CSTO. The defense capability of Armenia, which has unresolved territorial disputes with Azerbaijan and complex relations with Turkey, directly depends on military cooperation with Russia. Of all the post-Soviet states that are members of the United Air Defense System, Armenia is most integrated with the Russian armed forces. In the past, our country handed over to Armenia at least six S-300PT / PS air defense systems, as well as a significant number of medium-range air defense systems: S-75, S-125, Krug, Kub and Buk-M2. The protection of the sky of the friendly republic is also carried out by the Russian S-300V air defense systems at the base in Gyumri and the MiG-29 in Erebuni. I will not describe in detail the Russian-Armenian cooperation in the field of air defense, since there was already a publication on this topic in mid-February. More information about the state of the air defense system of Armenia can be found here: The current state of the air defense system of Armenia.
However, it can be noted that at the moment Armenia does not have its own fighter aircraft, and the republic cannot independently maintain the anti-aircraft systems and complexes in service, and in this regard it is completely dependent on Russia. For our country, friendly relations with Armenia are very important for defense. It is no coincidence that fairly modern radar stations are deployed in this Transcaucasian republic: 22Zh6M, 36D6, "Sky-SV" and "Periscope-VM" information from which is sent to the air defense command post of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
At present, the declared tasks of the unified air defense system are reduced to the protection of the air borders of the commonwealth, joint control of the use of airspace, notification of the aerospace situation, warning of a missile attack and the coordinated repulsion of this attack. As part of the CIS air defense OS, according to data from open sources, there are 20 fighter air regiments, 29 anti-aircraft missile regiments, 22 radio engineering units and 2 electronic warfare battalions. It is clear that approximately 90% of these forces are Russian aviation, anti-aircraft missile and radio-technical units. Although the air defense capabilities of most of the CSTO countries are relatively small, in the case of timely warning from radar posts outside our country, the Russian Aerospace Forces receive a margin of time to prepare to repel an attack. In the event of aggressive actions against Russia, one can hope that our partners who are part of the CIS air defense system will provide all possible assistance, and the funds invested in maintaining the defense capabilities of friendly states will not be wasted.
