Kazakhstan’s Navy Takes Delivery of 36th Ship Produced in Its Own Yards Since 1993

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 2 – A large portion of Kazakhstan’s navy consists of ships it inherited when the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, but these are now aging and being replaced by ships Astana has constructed on its own. Emblematic of that trend is that the Kazakhstan navy has just taken delivery of the 36^th ship built in its own yards.

            It is a small cutter of 70 tons displacement but has the ability to work in the shallowing waters of the northern Caspian and to move about at high speed, something that the larger ships of Russia’s Caspian Flotilla cannot do nearly as well (casp-geo.ru/kazahstan-usilivaet-beregovuyu-ohranu-na-kaspii/).

            While such ships – and this is the first of a new series that will include ships as large as 400 tons displacement – would not be enough to repulse a major Russian move, as Moscow writers routinely insist, they do mean that Kazakhstan is now well on its way to being a major power on the Caspian especially if it works in concert with other non-Russian littoral states.

            On those possibilities and their realization, see this author’s article at jamestown.org/program/kazakhstan-rapidly-moving-to-become-dominant-naval-power-on-the-caspian/ and jamestown.org/program/azerbaijan-and-kazakhstan-plan-joint-naval-maneuvers-in-caspian-near-russian-border/.

            As a result, at the very least, Russia’s Caspian Flotilla is not the only force that matters on that inland sea; and both Moscow and other countries must take cognizance of that change rather than assume that Russia has all the cards it needs to ensure its complete control there (jamestown.org/program/russias-caspian-flotilla-no-longer-only-force-that-matters-there/).