On May 27, 2024, during a live broadcast on Channel One, Dmitry Shugayev, the Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, announced that Russia is currently in discussions with Uzbekistan concerning the rearmament of the Central Asian Republic’s air defense forces. These talks are part of a broader military-technical cooperation between the two nations, which also aims to modernize land equipment and air forces.
According to Dmitry Shugayev, the director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, an agreement on the rearmament program is currently under consideration. This program will encompass the air forces and air defense, as well as land equipment, covering a broad range of military capacities. “We will discuss, then develop and assist our counterparts,” Shugayev stated. These developments are in response to a decree by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev that calls for the formation of a state commission by March 2024 aimed at equipping the republic’s armed forces, following the progression of several contracts established on November 29, 2016, which seek to advance military-technical cooperation between the two nations.