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Standard of the Armed Forces

Uzbekistan's armed forces are the largest in Central Asia^[2] according to Global Security. According to the 1992 Law on Defense, Uzbekistan's military is for defensive purposes only. In terms of potential recruits, Uzbekistan has about 7 million males age 15-49. The Government of Uzbekistan spends about 3.7% of GDP on the military.

Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, used to be the headquarters of the Soviet Turkestan Military District and on 20 February 1992, the new Ministry of Defence Affairs took over the offices which had been formerly occupied by the district headquarters staff.^[3] On 2 July 1992 a Presidential Decree established a Ministry of Defence to supersede the Ministry of Defence Affairs. Over the succeeding years, Uzbekistan replaced Russian officers with ethnic Uzbeks and restructured the military to focus on targets like civil unrest, drug trafficking, and Hizb-ut-Tahrir.^{[citation needed]}

Uzbekistan and Russia signed a mutual defence pact in 2005, what will also result in closer military cooperation. This marked a stark contrast to a few years earlier, when the US appeared to be Uzbekistan's favoured foreign friend, and relations with Russia were cooler.^[4]

'The country [has] also began professionalizing its military, an effort that has only limited success and erratic government support. But even in Uzbekistan, these changes represent merely a modest beginning and most of the benefits are concentrated in a few elite, higher readiness formations rather than uniformly applied to the entire force. The Uzbek military is woefully inadequate, but it is far superior to its neighbours.'^[5]

Land Forces

The Army includes five military districts, the Northwest at Nukus, the Southwest special military district at Karshi, the central military district at Dzhizak, and the East military district at Ferghana. In 2001, the Tashkent garrison was transformed into the fifth MD - the Tashkent military district.^[6] There are four motor rifle brigades whose designations are not known,^[7] the 34th (or the 37th) Motor Rifle Brigade at Andijan^[8], and the 17th Air Assault Brigade at Fergana, the former Soviet Airborne Forces' 387th Airborne Training Regiment.

Motorized brigades are located around Bukhara, Samarqand, Termez, Nukus, and Andijan.^[9]

Current inventory

Light equipment

• AK-47
• AK-74
• Dragunov sniper rifle
• PK

Tanks

• T-72 - 70
• T-64 - 100
• T-62 - 170
• T-55 – 80

Infantry Fighting Vehicles

• BMP-1 – 180
• BMP-2 – 172

Armored Personnel Carriers

• BTR-60 – 24
• BTR-70 – 36
• BTR-80 – 290
• BRDM-2 – 13

Artillery

Towed Artillery

• 122 mm D-30 - 540
• 152 mm D-1
• 152 mm D-20
• 152 mm 2A36 - 140

Self-propelled Artillery

• 120 mm 2S9 - 60
• 122 mm 2S1 - 18
• 152 mm 2S3 - 17
• 203 mm 2S7 - 48

Rocket Artillery

• 122 mm BM-21 Grad - 60
• 220 mm BM-27 Uragan - 49

Air Forces

The Uzbek air forces consist of units formerly part of the 49th Air Army of the Turkestan Military District headquartered at Tashkent. There are two remaining combat units, brigades at Karshi-Khanabad and Dzhizak.^[10]

The 60th Separate Brigade is the former 735th Bomber Aviation Regiment combined with the former 87th Separate Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment. It has 31 Su-24s, 32 MiG-29s (which are apparently in store) and 6 Su-27s. Other recently disbanded units include the 61st Fighter Aviation Regiment at Kokand, which was itself a merger with the previous 115th Fighter Aviation Regiment, and the 62nd Fighter Aviation Regiment at Andijan. Regiments at both bases were disbanded in 1999. As many as 26 stored Su-17s, apparently in very bad condition, remain at Chirchiq (see Google Earth 41°30'05.69"N 69°33'44.90"E).

• 31 Sukhoi Su-27
• 32 Sukhoi Su-24 (Stored)
• 39 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 (Stored)
• 38 Sukhoi Su-17 (Stored)
• 20 Sukhoi Su-25 (active)
• 14 Aero L-39 Albatros (training)

Transport planes

• 6 Ilyushin Il-76
• 5 An-12
• 1 An-24
• 15 An-26
• 1 Tu-154

Helicopters

Attack helicopters:

• Mi-24 Hind – 51*
• Mi-8 Hip/Mi-17 Hip – 64

Transport Helicopters:

• Mil Mi-6 -27
• Mil Mi-26 - 1

List of units

• 60th Separate Mixed Aviation Brigade (Karshi-Khanabad)(60 бап), Su-24/Su-24MR, Su-27- (31 Su-24, 32 MiG-29, 6 Su-27, 1200 чел.)
• Separate Mixed Aviation Brigade, Dzhizak, Su-25 - (Su-25, L-39, Mi-8, Mi-24)
• Separate Mixed Aviation Regiment, Fergana, Аn-12, 12РР, 26, 26РР
• Separate Mixed Aviation Squadron, Tashkent, Аn-24, Тu-134
• 65 Department of Military Training Kagan, Bukhara Mi-6,8- по MB-2002- 28 Mi-6, 29 Mi-8- б.396 овп ЮГВ
• 66th Separate Helicopter Regiment, Chirchiq, Mi-8/24/26 helicopters. The IISS Military Balance 2002 listed Uzbekistan with 42 Mi-24, 29 Mi-8,1 Mi-26
• 12th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade
• Radio-Technical Brigade

Activities and foreign relations

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States leased the Karshi-Khanabad airbase in southern Uzbekistan, which borders Afghanistan. The American base there was called "Camp Stronghold Freedom".

In September 2004, the (then) Royal Welsh Regiment (now 3rd Bn The Royal Welsh) of the British Army participated with the Uzbek Army Peacekeeping Battalion in "Exercise Timurlane Express" in the Farish Mountain Training Area. This was a 3-week NATO sponsored Partnership for Peace training exercise.

In May 2005, the military was involved in suppressing unrest in the Ferghana Valley city of Andijan. (See Andijan massacre for more details.) Consequently, the EU banned arms sales and imposed a one-year visa ban on 12 senior officials, including the security chief and interior and defence ministers, accusing them of bearing responsibility for the Andijan Massacre. [2]

A joint statement of the member countries of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation issued in early July, 2005 on a conference in Astana (Kazakstan) called for a withdrawal of US troops from military bases in Central Asia. On July 29, 2005, Uzbekistan invoked a provision asking the U.S. to leave within 180 days. On November 21, 2005, the withdrawal of US troops from Uzbekistan was completed.^[11]

Arms control and non-proliferation

The government has accepted the arms control obligations of the former Soviet Union, acceded to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (as a non-nuclear state), and has supported an active program by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in western Uzbekistan (Nukus and Vozrozhdeniye Island).

Command College

Please see TVOKU

References

1. ^ IISS Military Balance 2007, p.327
2. ^ Today.Az » Politics » Uzbekistan would prefer to be policeman of Central Asia: expert
3. ^ Richard Woff, 'Independence and the Uzbek Armed Forces,' Jane's Intelligence Review, December 1993, p.567
4. ^ BBC, [1]
5. ^ McDermott, JSMS, 2002, p.30
6. ^ Bakhtiyar Kamilov, FORMATION OF CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES TO THE PROBLEMS OF ENSURING NATIONAL SECURITY IN CENTRAL ASIAN STATES - UZBEKISTAN, KAZAKHSTAN, KYRGYZSTAN, TAJIKISTAN AND TURKMENISTAN
7. ^ http://www8.brinkster.com/vad777/sng/uzbekistan.htm, accessed late September 2007
8. ^ Press-service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan: Islam Karimov: no one can turn us from our chosen path
9. ^ http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/CEF/Quarterly/February_2007/Burnashev_Chernykh.pdf
10. ^ Brinkster.com
11. ^ US Completes Withdrawal From Uzbek Base

• X Air Forces: Uzbekistan Air Force

Further reading

• Roger N. McDermott, The armed forces of the republic of Uzbekistan 1992-2002: Threats, influences and reform, The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, Volume 16, Issue 2 June 2003 , pages 27 - 50