China expands weapons sales across former Soviet Central Asia
China is rapidly expanding its share of the defense market in former Soviet Central Asian states such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, after years of serving primarily as a trade and investment partner, The Moscow Times reported.
China is rapidly expanding its defense market presence in former Soviet Central Asian states, including Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, these countries diversified their military arsenals to reduce dependency on a country that considers the region its exclusive sphere of influence.
China is supplying drones, transport aircraft, armored vehicles, and air defense systems to these nations, financing border-security infrastructure, and strengthening cooperation with regional security agencies. Uzbekistan has acquired Chinese long-range HQ-9 and medium-range HQ-12 air defense systems, while Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have purchased Chengdu J-10CE multirole fighter jets.
Turkmenistan has acquired HQ-9 and HQ-12 air defense systems. This expansion of Chinese weaponry is taking place despite these countries remaining members of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Brief written by urgent.news from New Voice of Ukraine's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
