In 2011, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev announced plans to shut the base down by 2014, when the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is to be pulled out of Afghanistan.
He signed a bill ordering the closure of the base into law in June. It stipulates that US forces must abandon the base at Manas International Airport, near the capital Bishkek, by July 2014.
“The Department of Defense has begun the process of relocating from the Transit Center at Manas International Airport (TCM) and plans to complete the transfer of areas and facilities to the Government of Kyrgyzstan by July 2014,” the statement reads.
“Working closely with Kyrgyzstan over the next nine months, the U.S. will manage the TCM relocation effort while continuing to support the International Security Assistance Force mission,” the Department of Defense said.
Pentagon spokesman George Little told the media that U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Romanian Defense Minister Mircea Dusa agreed during their meeting on Friday that US military cargo and personnel going to and from Afghanistan by air will be hauled via Romania after the closure of Manas.
Secretary Hagel and Minister Dusa finalized an agreement for Romania to support logistics into and out of Afghanistan, including both personnel and cargo movement,” Little said.
- Little said Hagel also thanked Romania for its decision to host the U.S. Aegis Ashore missile defense system due to be ready in 2015.
19/10/13
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Related:
Kyrgyz Leader Finalizes US Airbase Closure
Russia to Start Sending Weapons to Kyrgyzstan This Year....
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US, Romania agree on air base rights....
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON -- The U.S. and Romania have reached an agreement to allow American troops and cargo to use the Black Sea air base of Mihail Kogalniceanu as a transport hub as they move in and out of Afghanistan.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel finalized the agreement in a meeting with Romania's Defense Minister Mircea Dusa on Friday. The Romania base is critical because beginning next June the U.S. will no longer be able to use the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan. Lawmakers there voted to end the agreement. That complicated matters for the U.S. as it brings thousands of troops out of Afghanistan over the next year.
Romania has also agreed to host an Aegis radar as part of the broader European missile defense system meant to protect against possible Iranian missile attacks.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/18/5833321/us-romania-agree-on-air-base-rights.html#storylink=cpy
18/10/13
Pentagon shifting logistics hub to Romania from Kyrgyzstan...
ReplyDeleteFinding a new location for the Afghanistan air logistics center was important because the Kyrgyz government has asked the United States to leave Manas by July 2014.
The Pentagon said on Friday it has begun shifting its Afghanistan air logistics hub to a base in Romania and will complete the transition from Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan by the time its contract for that facility expires in July 2014.
The announcement of the decision to shift the operations to Forward Operating Site Mihail Kogalniceanu in eastern Romania followed a visit to the Pentagon on Friday by Romanian Defense Minister Mircea Dusa.
U.S. forces have used the site, located on the Black Sea, since 1999. An agreement between the United States and Romania in 2005 allowed Washington to use several bases, including Mihail Kogalniceanu, for training, storing equipment and deployments.
Finding a new location for the Afghanistan air logistics center was important because the Kyrgyz government has asked the United States to leave Manas by July 2014 and U.S. forces are in the midst of shipping home equipment after 12 years of war.
The Pentagon said in a statement that "the U.S. appreciates the support provided by the Kyrgyz people" to U.S. and coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan and "respects the decision of the government" to stop hosting the facility after a dozen years.
U.S. and Romanian defense ties have been growing. They include the construction of a land-based Aegis missile defense system as part of President Barack Obama's European ballistic missile defense program, which aims to protect against any weapons fired from Iran.
The Pentagon said Undersecretary of Defense for Policy James Miller would attend a groundbreaking ceremony later this month for the construction of the Aegis site.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=120973
19/10/13
Twice as many Russian Air Force planes to be based in Kyrgyzstan...
ReplyDeleteBISHKEK, October 26 (Itar-Tass) - The number of Russian combat planes at the Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan will double, Viktor Sevostyanov, commander of the troops of the Second Command of the Air Force and Air Defence (the Central Military District), said here on Saturday. He arrived at the base in Kant to participate in the ceremony marking its tenth anniversary.
The base will be enlarged until December this year, he said. The personnel strength will not be increased much. Only the number of pilots may be increased, the commander noted.
Sevostyanov also said that a period of service at the base would not be limited.
The Russian airbase in Kyrgyzstan, though young, but can cope with set tasks, the commander noted.
Delegations from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg have arrived for the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the base. Aces of the Russian Knights aerobatic team will participate in the air show.
http://www.itar-tass.com/c32/927774.html
26/10/13
Russia to Deploy More Su-25 Combat Planes at Kyrgyz Airbase...
ReplyDeleteMOSCOW, January 3 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will deploy four additional Su-25 ground attack aircraft at the Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan in 2014, Russia’s Central Military District said Monday.
“A unit of modernized Su-25SM Frogfoot fighter-bombers will be deployed this year at the Russian airbase in Kyrgyzstan,” the district said in a statement.
The deployment has been ordered by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the statement said.
According to the statement, the upgraded SU-25SM aircraft are equipped with advanced fire-control and navigation systems, the Pastel countermeasures suite. They can carry an expanded range of weaponry compared with the base Su-25 model.
A Russian airbase in Kant, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the capital Bishkek, was established in October 2003 and operates in the interests of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Moscow-led regional security body.....................http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20140203/187169182/Russia-to-Deploy-More-Su-25-Combat-Planes-at-Kyrgyz-Airbase.html
3/2/14
Russia Boosts Military, Economic Ties With Kyrgyzstan...
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. Air Force base in Kyrgyzstan is packing up for closure after more than 12 years of flying troops and cargo in and out of Afghanistan, as Moscow boosts its military clout in the strategic region. Against the backdrop of the Russian actions in Ukraine, experts say Russia’s increasing economic and military influence in the impoverished former Soviet state can be a big strategic gain for Moscow.
Russian-Kyrgyz economic and defense relations are strengthening at a steady pace. Last month, Russia announced that Kyrgyzstan would receive modern Russian weaponry.
Kyrgyzstan is a mainly Muslim country with volatile politics. Leonid Bondarets, a defense analyst based in the Kyrgyz capital city, Bishkek, said good relations between Moscow and Bishkek may mean fewer worries for Moscow about religious extremism. He said when Russia has a friendly government next door, it will not have to worry about seeing the extremism being exported to its territory.
Modernizing the military
Russia is helping Kyrgyzstan modernize its armed forces and last year gave Bishkek a $1.2 billion military package. Russia also operates four military installations in Kyrgyzstan. They include the Kant Air Base near Bishkek and a naval test site in the Tien Shan mountains...............http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-boosts-military-economic-ties-with-kyrgyzstan/1867000.html
7/3/14