The Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan will renew its fleet of combat vehicles until the end of the year.

Citing Colonel Yevgeny Okhrimenko, the Chief of the Military Base Staff, RIA Novosti news agency says 30 T-72B3M tanks will arrive in Tajikistan for the Russian military base until the end of the year.  

“Besides, modernized infantry fighting vehicles BMP-2, the latest portable anti-aircraft missile systems “Verba”, rocket infantry flamethrowers of increased range and power, anti-tank missile systems “Kornet”,  sniper rifles ASVK-M “Kord”, assault rifles AK-12, armored ambulances “Linza” and logistics and technical support equipment have recently entered service of the military base,” Okhrimenko was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.  

T-72B3M, also referred to as T-72B4, is an upgraded variant of the T-72B3 main battle tank (MBT) developed by Uralvagonzavod Research and Production Corporation.  This tank was exhibited for the first time to the public during the 2014 Tank Biathlon World Championship held in October 2014.

The T72B3M is armed with a 2A46M5 125mm smoothbore gun, which is an advanced version of the 2A46M cannon. It can fire a range of ammunition, including armour-piercing discarding sabot (APDS), high-explosive fragmentation (HEF) and high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT), as well as 9M119 Refleks (NATO codename: AT-11 Sniper) guided anti-tank missiles.  The projectiles and missiles are loaded by an auto-loader.

The BMP-2 is a second-generation, amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s.

The BMP-2M infantry fighting vehicle is designed to equip motor rifle infantry units, improve mobility, armament and protection of the personnel operating on the battlefield, including in NBC environment.

Two versions of the upgraded vehicle have been developed in the process of BMP-2 modernization: the first variant (sb4-2) is designed for combating enemy manpower and the second (sb4-3) – for use in tank approach routes.

In the first case, the firing capabilities are enhanced by installing additional weapons – a 30mm AG-17 automatic grenade launcher mounted in the turret rear on an L-shaped support.  Aimed fire from the grenade launcher is conducted by means of gunner's primary sight or 1PZ-13 commander’s sight having scales for automatic grenade launcher to a maximum range of 1,730 m.

The BMP-2M (sb4-3) is equipped with an advanced multichannel gunner's sight, a new armament stabilizer and ballistic computer with firing conditions sensors.  The multichannel gunner's sight with independent field-of-view stabilization, which includes a variable-power optical channel, a night thermal imaging channel, a laser rangefinder and an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) guidance channel, simplifies and facilitates the target reconnaissance process, reduces the time and improves the fire mission effectiveness.  The detection range for a tank-type target is up to 5,000 m, target identification at night using the thermal channel is possible at up to 3,000 m.

The Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan is subordinate to the Central Military District.  It is Russia's largest non-naval military facility outside the country.

It was officially opened in Tajikistan in 2004 under a previous agreement, which was signed in 1993, and hosts Russia’s largest military contingent deployed abroad.  A total of some 7,000 Russian troops are now stationed at two military facilities collectively known as the 201st military base - in Dushanbe and Bokhtar (formerly Qurghon Teppa), some 100 kilometers from Dushanbe.