Russia, Central Asian States to Hold Air Defense Drills

Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan will conduct joint command-and-staff air defense drills on October 5-16, the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

The Chistoye Nebo (Clear Sky) 2012 exercise will be held in Kyrgyz, Tajik and Kazakh airspace and involve the interception of cruise missiles.

Russia will be represented by a group of experts from Air Force staff and MiG-31 Foxhound interceptors and an A-50 Mainstay AWACS plane deployed at the Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan.

Kazakhstan’s three airbases will host the active phase of the drills. The former Soviet republic will also deploy five air defense brigades and command staff.

Azerbaijani ships to be equipped with Uran-E missile complexes

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov – APA. Azerbaijan ordered “Uran-E” shipborne missile complex from Russian Tactical Missiles Corporation, says the report of the above-mentioned company, APA reports. Azerbaijan ordered “Uran-E” complex in amount of USD 75 mln in 2010. The delivery of the complex must be finished in 2014.

The company’s report notes that Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan ordered the similar complexes. Amount of Turkmenistan’s first order is USD 79.8 mln, second order – USD 40 mln. The delivery of complex to Turkmenistan will be finished this year. The fulfillment of the second order must be finished in 2014. The amount of Kazakhstan’s order is USD 30 mln. The fulfillment of the order will start in 2013.

KKT-R? An alternative route to relieve the road from Uzbekistan to the Baltic

The " reverse Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan (R-KKT) trucking route "is part of the Northern Distribution Network , the network of multimodal overland road and rail which will allow exfiltration of NATO equipment.

The R-KTT passes, as its name indicates, by Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan before entering Russia. But she avoids Uzbekistan, which the authorities are very demanding in terms of rights of way.

This road is more expensive than the way south through Pakistan (for a 20-foot container, the extra cost would be $ 10 000 or $ 18 000. However, the air costs $ 40 000 per container according to the U.S. Transportation Command ). This is also the longest: forwarders estimate that the transit time between Afghanistan and the Baltic ports is around 120 days, against 80 by Pakistan.

Boon to private. A U.S. firm is already well established on the R-KKT; it comes to FMN Logistics has begun to repatriate the material U.S. 4 months ago, with the first convoy of 20 trucks of 25t. Others followed, such as Move One (Dubai), already present in Central Asia.

Ukraine, Kazakhstan Sign $150 Mln Armored Vehicle Deal

Ukraine and Kazakhstan are to jointly produce the Ukrainian BTR-4 armored personnel carrier in a $150-million deal signed on Thursday at the Kadex 2012 defense exhibition in Astana, Ukroboronprom General Director Dmitry Peregudov said.

Kiev and Astana signed an initial agreement on joint cooperation on armored vehicle overhaul at the end of 2011.

"Today we've moved to a new level - production of the most modern Ukrainian designed product, the BTR-4. In all, a hundred machines will be built," he said. "The first ten will be built this year, and the remaining 90 next year. The overall value of the deal is $150 million," he said

Ukraine will guarantee delivery of technology and systems for joint production, and also personnel training, said Kazakhstan Engineering's President Bolat Smagulov.

"We're interested in the development of joint projects, in particular large caliber guns, navigation systems and other defense items," he said.

The eight-wheel BTR-4 was developed in the early 2000s and is quite different in layout to the Soviet-era BTR-80 and BTR-90 designs. The vehicle is designed to carry eight troops into battle and provide fire support to them in extreme hot and cold weather conditions. It can be armed with a 30-mm cannon, anti-tank missiles and machine-guns.

Airbus military lands c-295 deal with kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's air force is to receive up to eight C-295 medium transports under the terms of a new agreement signed with Airbus Military.
 
The nation's state-owned Kazspetsexport agency has signed a contract for two aircraft to be delivered by April 2013, plus a separate memorandum of understanding covering a planned further six, Airbus Military said on 1 March.
 
The production order also includes support services, spare parts and ground support equipment, according to the European manufacturer.
 
"Separate firm contracts will be signed progressively over the next few years," said Airbus Military, with the company to also deliver technical training to enable Kazakh personnel to support the type independently in the future.
 
The Kazakhstan air force's current airlift fleet includes a combined 10 Antonov An-12, An-24/26 and An-72 transports, as recorded by Flightglobal's MiliCAS database.