Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to Acquire Chinese Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems
Published by John C. K. DalyFebruary 3, 2015


According to a report in Kanwa Defense Review, a Chinese-language military magazine based in Canada, China will sell Hongqi-9 (HQ-9) surface-to-air missiles to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in a deal designed to reduce its prices for their natural gas imports. IA Regnum reports that China signed the contracts with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in 2013. The prices of the contracts were not given.
It is an ironic turn of events, as in the aftermath of the 1991 collapse of Soviet Union, the five new Central Asian and Caucasian nations began to sell weapons systems produced by their share of the Soviet military-industrial complex to overseas markets, including China. To give examples, China reportedly purchased VA-111 super-cavitating Shkval torpedoes from Kyrgyzstan and Il-76MD transports from Uzbekistan’s state-run Chkalov Tashkent Aircraft Production Corporation, while Azerbaijan was once a major production base of Sukhoi Su-25s.
China eventually stopped purchasing weapons systems from Central Asian countries as their quality faded due to lack of resources while China’s own military-industrial complex grew. After having lost the capability to develop their own weapon systems, all five former Soviet Central Asian states began investigating armaments imports from China.
The HQ-9’s export version is known as the Fangdun (FD)-2000. The HQ-9 entered Chinese military service in 1997, and analysts believe that its development effort may have been based on a Chinese-designed missile motor, search and guidance hardware based on the Russian S-300PMU, and guidance technology from the American Patriot, as China purchased four to six S-300PMU batteries (48 to 72 missiles) in 1991 and an additional 120 missiles in 1994, three years before the HQ-9 became operational. In 1993 Israel allegedly transferred a Patriot missile or missile technology to China, though Israel denied the charges. According to the United States-based International Assessment and Strategy Center think tank, the HQ-9/FD-2000 incorporates Russian guidance systems, U.S. seeker technology and possible Israeli design assistance. The year that the HQ-9 entered service the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence suggested that “technology from advanced Western systems may be incorporated into the HQ-9.”
The HQ-9/FD-2000 SAM air defense system is built by China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp. (CPMIEC) and consists of missile batteries, launchers, radars, sensors, vehicles, and support systems. Interestingly, CPMEIC has been sanctioned the U.S. for violating the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act. The HQ-9/FD-2000 has a range of 200 km up to an altitude of 30 km and its missiles are capable of intercepting precision-guided weapons as well as UAVs, helicopters and fighter aircraft. The HQ-9/FD-2000, a third generation medium-and-high altitude, medium-and-long range air-defense system capable of carrying out all-weather air-defense operations, made its first public appearance at the Africa Aerospace and Defense Exhibition in 2009. The HQ-9/FD-2000 export version provides extra anti-stealth capability by incorporating YLC-20 passive sensor as an option.
The Chinese SAM missile system proved sufficiently alluring that in 2013 Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), selected the HQ-9/FD-2000 surface-to-air missile system in preference to European, Russian and U.S. alternatives, though discussion are ongoing with Turkey’s NATO allies about the potential purchase.
The sale is a political victory for Beijing and a significant milestone towards the Chinese defense industry’s goal of becoming a leading exporter of high-end arms and equipment. China, while long an exporter of small arms and ammunition, is poised to become a significant vendor of advanced military technology, offering “good enough” equipment at significantly lower prices than its competitors. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported last year that the five biggest exporters in 2009–13 were the U.S., followed by Russia, Germany, China and France, who collectively accounted for 74 percent of global armaments exports, with the U.S. and Russia alone responsible for 56 percent of all exports. Over the past five years China has further cemented its position as a major exporter of arms, replacing France as the fourth largest arms exporter. Pakistan remains China’s leading customer for weapons sales, accounting for 55 percent of Chinese arms exports, while Bangladesh and Myanmar represent roughly 13 percent and Sri Lanka two percent.
Chinese conventional weapons exports, including advanced aircraft, missiles, ships and artillery, rose 162 percent during 2008- 2012 as compared with the previous five years. In 2013 China’s military exports totaled roughly $1.8 billion. China’s customer base now reaches from South America to Africa. In Pakistan, besides the joint JF-17 fighter production, the two nations have had official joint production agreements on a frigate, a battle tank and small aircraft.
After China delivers the HQ-9/FD-2000 SAM systems to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, their dependency on China doesn’t stop there, as they will then have to purchase Chinese radars, early warning aircraft (AWACs) and even fighter jets to coordinate with the air defense system, while Chinese personnel would have to install and repair the system and train operators. Therefore, once the HQ-9 enters service Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are likely to purchase Chinese -made radar, AWACS, and even combat aircraft, which will hinder Russia’s exports to these countries S300 air defense missile system plan.
The largest unanswered question is – why are Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, both of whom share borders with Afghanistan (Turkmenistan – 462 miles, and Uzbekistan – 85 miles), purchasing advanced SAM defenses?
The question is particularly relevant to Turkmenistan, as in 1995 Turkmenistan proclaimed a policy of international diplomatic neutrality, and on Dec. 12 of that year, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Resolution on the Permanent Neutrality of Turkmenistan, with 25 countries co-sponsoring the resolution.
Despite what may happen in Afghanistan, now that the vast majority of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops have been withdrawn, neither the Afghan military nor the Taliban possess any air assets. Could it be a gesture to Russia, which last March annexed Crimea? A Chinese air defense system would not necessarily identify Russian aircraft as “friendlies,” much less U.S. aircraft still operating from Afghan airbases.
Or could it just be a friendly gesture to Eurasia’s rising economic superpower to cut Beijing better natural gas prices? Given the opaque nature of Chinese, Turkmen and Uzbek government policies, the answer will be long in coming, if ever.

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