Russia has reportedly donated US$9 million worth of air defense assets to Tajikistan. The handover ceremony of the donation took place in Dushanbe on February 25.
Within the framework of the Tajik national army modernization program, Russia has donated US$9 million worth of radars for detecting and tracking air objects, according to the Russian Defense Ministry’s official website.
An official source at the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of Tajikistan says the handover ceremony of the donation took place in Dushanbe on February 25.
Over the past three years, Russia has reportedly supplied US$140 million worth of armament to Tajikistan.
Recall, issues related to incorporating Central Asian member nations of the Collective Security treaty Organization (CSTO) into the organization’s unified air defense and anti-missile defense system discussed in Dushanbe on February 12-13.
The meeting participants included representatives of the defense ministries of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as well as the CSTO Unified Staff and the basic research institutions of the Organization. Creation of the unified air defense system in the Central Asian region was reportedly the subject of discussions.
The meeting participants decided to recommend that the CSTO Unified Staff continue work on this issue.
The issue of incorporating the Central Asian region into the military bloc’s joint air defense system was also discussed at a meeting of the CSTO Defense Council in Minsk on April 19, 2017.
Some experts consider that doing so comes as part of Moscow's pursuit of greater military and security integration with countries in its near abroad, particularly with states already closely aligned with it like CSTO member nations.
Until now, Russia has reached bilateral agreements and created a unified air defense system with Belarus and Armenia.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization groups Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
