The main efforts of the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan in 2024 should be directed towards improving the quality of combat training, troop readiness, the morale and psychological climate in military units, and the effectiveness of managerial decisions, said General Colonel Ruslan Zhaksylykov, the Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan.
Minister Zhaksylykov stated this during an expanded meeting on the main activities of preparing and developing the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan in the 2024 academic year, the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan reported.
"This year, large-scale exercises involving five states will take place on the territory of Kazakhstan. They must be carried out at a high organizational level. It is extremely important for us to maintain friendly relations between fraternal peoples and armed forces to ensure security in the Central Asian region," said General Colonel Ruslan Zhaksylykov.
First Deputy Minister of Defense and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Marat Khussainov, informed that in 2024, more than 160 operational events and over 70,000 combat training events are planned. The most significant among them are the "Birlestik" exercises, which involve the Naval Forces, Air Forces, Special Operations Forces of the Regional Command "West," and military contingents from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
As part of the celebration of the centenary of General Sagadat Nurmagambetov in Almaty, international championships in boxing and sambo will be held, and for the first time, a championship of the CIS military in Kazakh kures will take place.
"In total, 33 competitions will be held in Kazakhstan. At the same time, army athletes will participate in 17 international competitions. Kazakh military personnel are also planned to participate in 35 international tactical exercises, six of which will take place in our country," specified the First Deputy Minister of Defense.
Following the meeting, Minister of Defense Zhaksylykov outlined the key tasks of the ministry, with special attention to be given to the development of the defense-industrial complex, the national production and repair base, improving the quality of combat training, planned rearmament of the Kazakh army, increasing the share of the military-trained reserve, and improving interdepartmental coordination.
Meanwhile, according to the GlobalFirepower rating, which has been analyzing the potential armed forces of 145 countries since 2006, Kazakhstan's army in 2023 ranked first in terms of power in Central Asia.
Kazakhstan occupies the 58th place among the countries considered for the annual GFP review, published in January 2024. The United States tops this ranking, followed by Russia in second place, and China in third. India, the United Kingdom, and South Korea follow, as reported by inbusiness.kz.
Among Kazakhstan's Central Asian neighbors, Uzbekistan is the closest to Kazakhstan in the ranking this year, at 65th place. The rest of the Central Asian countries are ranked as follows: Turkmenistan at 83rd, Kyrgyzstan at 100th, and Tajikistan at 107th.
In the ranking, the army of Turkmenistan dropped one position (83rd place), and the army of Uzbekistan dropped three positions (65th), while the army of Kyrgyzstan rose seven positions (100th), and the army of Tajikistan rose 13 positions (107th).
CentralasianLIGHT.org
January 15, 2024