Kazakhstan Has Begun Converting Military Plants To NATO Standards

The total cost of the project will be about $1 billion.

Kazakhstan within the framework of the national project ASPAN plans to build and launch four new plants for the production of artillery shells and mines, which will meet NATO standards. The total cost of the project will be about $1 billion, writes moscowtimes.ru

"Kazakhstan has long lacked its own production of not only artillery shells and mines, but also small arms ammunition. Therefore, the combat capability of our army critically depended on the stockpiles of Soviet weapons available in Kazakhstan and supplies from Russia and former Soviet republics," a high-ranking Kazakh military officer told RTVI. He noted that in the current geopolitical situation it is "extremely important" for the country to have its own production of shells.

The construction of military plants is being carried out by Kazakhstan's Great Sky company. The first deputy general director of the organization Andrey Tikhonenko said that the project has a great prospect, because "all the raw material base that is necessary for the production of ammunition - metal, cotton, acids and other materials - is in Kazakhstan." It is noted that the plants under the ASPAN project, in addition to shells according to NATO standards, will also produce artillery ammunition of Russian models - calibers 82 mm, 120 mm, 122 mm and 152 mm.

According to Kazakh media, the Ministry of Defense of the republic expects that the plants under construction will allow not only to meet domestic needs, but also to establish exports. At the same time, according to RTVI's source, it is too early to talk about exports, as since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country has had a complete ban on the sale of military-technical products abroad. "However, in the long term it is a possible option, given that a number of post-Soviet countries are actively buying Western-style equipment," - said the interlocutor of the TV channel.

At the same time, he assured that Russia continues to be the largest military-technical partner and arms supplier of Kazakhstan, but the country is also implementing other programs of military-technical cooperation, and their share is gradually growing.

In 2023, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Kazakh President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev set the task to conduct maximum localization of production of military equipment and ammunition. "Armored vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, modern small arms - all this we can and must produce at home, in our country," Tokayev said.

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