China looks far ahead
Turkmenistan has strengthened its air defense with Chinese FK-2000 SAM systems
China Looks Far Ahead
Turkmenistan has adopted Chinese FK-2000 anti-aircraft missile systems, which are intended to strengthen the country's air defense system. These air defense systems were shown at a parade on September 27 in Ashgabat, dedicated to the 35th anniversary of Turkmenistan's independence. Official Turkmen materials also confirm that the FK-2000 recently entered service, reports the "Voennoye Obozreniye" (topwar.ru) resource.
The Turkmen army demonstrated the new air defense assets for the first time. Other Chinese-made air defense systems—FM-90, KS-1A, and FD-2000—were also spotted in the column.
According to experts, the appearance of the new system indicates that Turkmenistan is gradually abandoning Russian weapons in favor of analogues from other countries, in particular the PRC (we recently wrote about the delivery of the Indian Akash air defense system to Turkmenistan). While the 2016 parade mostly featured Soviet and modernized Soviet equipment, specifically the "Osa", "Pechora-2M", 2BM, and S-200V systems, it can now be said that the air defense shield of this Central Asian republic is partially formed of "Chinese" systems.
The FK-2000 air defense system (an analogue of the Russian "Pantsir" gun-missile system) belongs to short-range air defense assets and differs in its purpose from the long-range S-200. In particular, the new Chinese system is a mobile system on an 8x8 wheeled chassis, combining radar and optoelectronic equipment. The system also includes 12 anti-aircraft missiles and 2 six-barrel 30-mm automatic cannons.
According to the declared characteristics, the missiles of this air defense system are designed to engage aerial targets at a range of up to 25 km, and cruise missiles and precision-guided weapons at up to 10 km. Therefore, it cannot be argued that the FK-2000 is a direct analogue of the Russian S-200, which is capable of destroying objects at a distance of up to 300 km. The system from China is simply designed for a different echelon of air defense.
It is noted that against the backdrop of the air defense upgrade, the army of Turkmenistan still retains Soviet combat aviation. According to open sources, the republic's Air Force fleet includes 24 MiG-29 and 25 Su-25 aircraft.
Experts believe that the next stage of equipment modernization could be the replacement of these fighters with Chinese ones. There is no confirmed information about such contracts, so for now, these are only assumptions.
Media reports also indicated that Turkmen soldiers were spotted at the parade in Ashgabat with new American M7 assault rifles, and modern M250 machine guns were mounted on armored vehicles. These types of weapons are manufactured in the USA and are actively used by the armies of NATO countries.