Turkmenistan Army

The Turkmen Ground Forces, headquartered in Ashgabat, constitute the land warfare branch of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan. Ground troops are organized across five military districts corresponding to the administrative provinces of Ahal, Balkan, Dashoguz, Lebap, and Mary. Operational formations include motor rifle divisions, independent motorized rifle brigades, an armored regiment, an air assault brigade, and dedicated artillery and air defense brigades. Garrisons are maintained at Ashgabat, Serhetabat, Mary, Turkmenabat, Kerki, and Turkmenbashy.

Armored units operate T-72 main battle tanks, including modernized T-72UMG variants, alongside T-90S main battle tanks. Mechanized infantry formations field BMP-1, BMP-2, and BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, supplemented by BMD-1 airborne combat vehicles. Wheeled armored personnel carriers and reconnaissance vehicles include BTR-80, BTR-80A, and BTR-82A models, as well as Serbian Lazar 3 8x8 armored combat vehicles. Off-road troop mobility and mine protection are provided by Turkish BMC Kirpi, BMC Vuran, and BMC Amazon mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, alongside Otokar Cobra and Nimr Ajban armored utility platforms. Field artillery relies on self-propelled howitzers including the 2S1 Gvozdika and 2S3 Akatsiya, towed D-30 and 2A65 Msta-B artillery pieces, and multiple launch rocket systems comprising BM-21 Grad, BM-30 Smerch, RM-70, and Tornado-G. Layered ground-based air defense includes S-125 Pechora-2M, 9K33 Osa-AKM, 2K12 Kub, Chinese FM-90 short-range systems, and FD-2000 long-range surface-to-air missile batteries. Unmanned aerial reconnaissance and target strike assets feature Turkish Bayraktar TB2 and Chinese CH-3, CH-4, and WJ-600 systems. Standard infantry small arms center on the Beretta ARX160 assault rifle alongside legacy Soviet weaponry.

Under Turkmenistan's constitutionally defined policy of permanent neutrality, the ground forces maintain a territorial defense posture focused on border security, sovereign defense, and anti-smuggling operations along the southern frontier with Afghanistan. The ground forces have not participated in foreign combat deployments or coalition operations abroad. Modernization relies entirely on foreign procurements, as domestic military infrastructure is limited to maintenance, repair, and overhaul functions. Defense acquisitions follow a diversified pattern, sourcing heavy tracked armor from Russia, wheeled armored fighting vehicles and tactical drones from Turkey, surface-to-air missile systems and UAVs from China, small arms from Italy, and rocket artillery and armored transport from Serbia.