Every war the Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces have fought
Uzbekistan’s air force went to war within weeks of its creation: for the Tajik government against the United Tajik Opposition, which regarded the intervention as outside interference, against the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in Kyrgyzstan in 1999–2000, and over northern Afghanistan in 2001. Uzbekistan has published no official account of these operations, so the record rests on Human Rights Watch and on secondary sources, each of them named. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From the Soviet war in Afghanistan to the Afghan aircraft that crossed the border in 2021.
| Conflicto | Años | Contra | Avión principal | Salidas | Avión perdido | |
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| Soviet–Afghan Warthe predecessor regiments on the Afghan borderSoviet Air Forces and Air Defence Forces of the Turkestan Military District (49th Air Army from 1988) | 1979–1989 | Afghan mujahideen | MiG-29 (115th Guards Fighter Regiment, Kokaydy), Soviet helicopter regiments at Kagan and Chirchiq | — | — | |
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Units that Uzbekistan later inherited sat on the Afghan border and supported the 40th Army; Uzbekistan itself did not exist as a state. The Turkestan Military District, headquartered in Tashkent, was the rear of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, and the airfields of the Uzbek SSR were its nearest bases. Wikipedia says the MiG-29s that Uzbekistan inherited had belonged to the 115th Guards Fighter Regiment at Kokaydy, near Termez, and had provided air cover for Soviet forces in Afghanistan. The district’s helicopter regiments at Kagan and Chirchiq, with Mi-6, Mi-8 and Mi-24V helicopters in 1988, were also taken over by Uzbekistan. The sources checked do not give sortie counts or losses for these units, so none are given here. Resultado Soviet withdrawal completed in February 1989; the units passed to Uzbekistan in 1992. Regiment-level involvement rests on Wikipedia; it was not verified in primary sources.
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| Tajikistani Civil Warair support for the Tajik governmentUzbekistan Air Force | 1992–1993 | United Tajik Opposition | MiG-29, Su-17M, Su-24y 3 más | — | 4 | |
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Uzbek jets and helicopters supported the Tajik government side against the United Tajik Opposition, according to Wikipedia citing Drozdov (2021). Within weeks of taking over its Soviet regiments, Uzbekistan used them in its neighbour’s civil war. Wikipedia, citing the Russian aviation historian Drozdov, says helicopter regiments from Chirchiq and Kagan and fighter-bomber regiments from Dzhizak and Kokaydy, with the mixed regiment at Tashkent-Vostochny, supported the government side against the Islamist-led United Tajik Opposition from September 1992 to May 1993, and were later used against opposition positions in eastern Tajikistan. Losses were one Su-24, two Mi-8s and one Mi-24. HRW recorded that a Su-24M was brought down by a Stinger on 3 May 1993. Wikipedia’s article on the war says Russian and Uzbek help allowed the Popular Front to rout the opposition in 1992. Casualty estimates for the whole war vary from 20,000 to 150,000. Resultado With Russian and Uzbek help the Popular Front routed the opposition in 1992 (Wikipedia); the war went on until the peace agreement of 27 June 1997, with an estimated 20,000–150,000 killed. The air campaign is documented mainly through one secondary source (Drozdov, via Wikipedia); Uzbekistan has published no official account. The UTO regarded Uzbek intervention as outside interference.
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| Batken conflict and IMU incursionsKara-Teyit, 1999Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces | 1999–2000 | Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan | Su-17, Su-24, Mi-8y 1 más | — | 3 | |
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Uzbek aircraft attacked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan fighters who had crossed from Tajikistan into Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region, and again during the 2000 incursions. In August 1999 several hundred IMU fighters — 500 to 1,000 by HRW’s account — entered southern Kyrgyzstan from Tajikistan and took hostages, including four Japanese geologists. Uzbekistan sent aircraft to support the Kyrgyz offensive. Human Rights Watch reported that on 29 August 1999 the Uzbek air force mistakenly bombed the Kyrgyz village of Kara-Teyit, killing four, injuring 280 and leaving 31 families homeless, and that the Tajik government and the UTO blamed Uzbekistan for bombing Tajik territory. Wikipedia, citing Drozdov, lists Su-17s, Su-24s, Mi-8s and Mi-24s, one Su-24 shot down, and two Mi-8s lost in operations in November–December 1999 and August–September 2000. Resultado The 1999 incursion was pushed back by Kyrgyz forces in the autumn (Wikipedia); new incursions followed in August–September 2000. Uzbekistan did not publish its own account; the Kara-Teyit figures are HRW’s and the losses are Drozdov’s via Wikipedia.
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| Afghan civil warthe Su-24 lost near HairatanUzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces | 2001 | los talibanes | Su-24 | — | 1 | |
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Uzbek aircraft attacked Taliban positions near the border before the US intervention, according to secondary sources. Little is on record about Uzbek air operations over Afghanistan before 11 September 2001. FlightGlobal reported on 2 October 2001 that an Uzbek Su-24 had been shot down by the Taliban. Wikipedia’s Su-24 article, citing the Air Combat Information Group, dates the loss to 6 June 2001 near Hairatan, opposite Termez, during an attack on Taliban positions, and says both crew were killed. Resultado Isolated action; Uzbekistan gave the US access to Karshi-Khanabad in October 2001. No Uzbek official statement on the loss was found; details rest on ACIG and FlightGlobal.
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| Operation Enduring Freedom (host nation)Karshi-Khanabad (K2)Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces (host) | 2001–2005 | — | US and German aircraft only | — | 0 | |
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Host nation: US forces flew from Karshi-Khanabad and Germany from Termez; no Uzbek combat sorties are recorded. Uzbekistan gave the United States access to Karshi-Khanabad on 5 October 2001. The base, K2 or Camp Stronghold Freedom, held about 7,000 US personnel between 2001 and 2005 and was used for special forces, combat search and rescue and airlift into Afghanistan. Germany was allowed a transport base at Termez for its ISAF contingent, with about 163 troops by the CRS count. After the Andijan events of May 2005 and Western criticism, Uzbekistan restricted night and heavy-transport flights in June and at the end of July demanded that the Americans leave within six months; they left on 21 November 2005. Uzbekistan later let NATO use Navoi airport for supplies from 2009. Resultado Uzbekistan demanded at the end of July 2005 that the US leave within six months; US operations at K2 ended on 21 November 2005. The Uzbek government linked the eviction to foreign criticism; the US reaction to Andijan is described in US sources.
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| Afghan aircraft entering Uzbek airspaceTermez, August 2021Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces | 2021 | — | MiG-29 | — | 1 | |
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Air defence response to 46 Afghan military aircraft crossing the border as the Islamic Republic collapsed. As Kabul fell on 15 August 2021, Afghan Air Force crews flew north. Uzbekistan said 46 aircraft — 22 fixed-wing and 24 helicopters — had been “forced” to land, with 585 servicemen aboard. An A-29 Super Tucano came down after crossing the border. Initial reports said it had been shot down; The War Zone later reported it had collided with an Uzbek MiG-29, with the loss of both aircraft, and Wikipedia notes that the Uzbek authorities issued conflicting accounts of the cause. Satellite images of Termez on 16 August showed at least six A-29s, about 11 PC-12s, about seven Black Hawks and about 19 Mi-17-type helicopters. Resultado The aircraft were impounded at Termez; in August 2024 the US said they would stay in Uzbekistan. The cause of the A-29 loss and the fate of the MiG-29 were never settled in an official Uzbek statement available to us.
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No se encontraron coincidencias con esa búsqueda.
Cada cifra, verificada
- FlightGlobal / Flight International: Russia opens way for US attack (2 October 2001, Paul Lewis)Uzbekistan flies MiG-29s, Su-17s and Su-24s; an Uzbek Su-24 was shot down by the Taliban; Tuzel and Chirchiq offered; US 82nd Airborne and C-17s at Chirchiq in 1997.
- GlobalSecurity.org: Karshi-Khanabad (K2)US access granted 5 October 2001; 10th Mountain Division troops; 416th Air Expeditionary Group; after Andijan night flying and heavy transports were restricted in June 2005.
- Congressional Research Service RS21238: Uzbekistan: Recent Developments and U.S. Interests (21 August 2013)K2 agreement October 2001; demand at the end of July 2005 to leave within six months; US ceased operations at K2 on 21 November 2005; German base at Termez with about 163 troops; Navoi opened for NATO supplies in 2009; CSTO: left 1999, rejoined December 2006, suspended 20 June 2012; EU arms embargo lifted October 2009.
- Military Times: Post-9/11 veterans attribute deadly cancers to contaminants at US base in Uzbekistan (27 February 2020, Patricia Kime)About 7,000 US personnel at K2 2001–2005; contaminants listed in DoD documents; H.R. 5957.
- Michael Holm, ww2.dk: 115th Guards Fighter Aviation RegimentAt Kokaydy October 1947–May 1992; MiG-15 to MiG-29; taken over by Uzbekistan May 1992, renamed 61st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in 1993.
- Human Rights Watch World Report 2000: KyrgyzstanOn 29 August 1999 the Uzbek air force mistakenly bombed Kara-Teyit, killing four, injuring 280 and leaving 31 families homeless; IMU incursion of 22 August 1999.
- Human Rights Watch World Report 2000: TajikistanUzbekistan blamed by the Tajik government and the UTO for bombing Tajik territory while supporting the Kyrgyz offensive in 1999.
- The War Zone: Dozens of U.S.-bought Afghan Air Force aircraft are now orphaned at an Uzbek airfield (17 August 2021, Joseph Trevithick)Uzbek statement: 46 aircraft (22 fixed-wing, 24 helicopters) forced to land; satellite image of 16 August at Termez; one A-29 lost, first reported shot down, later said to have collided with an Uzbek MiG-29 with the loss of both aircraft; the A-29 pilots ejected.
- Khaama Press: US and Uzbekistan agree on Afghanistan military aircraft (27 August 2024)22 aircraft and 24 helicopters entered Uzbekistan in August 2021; Taliban defence minister Mohammad Yaqoob’s warnings.
- Kun.uz: US may give about 50 former Afghan aircraft to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (20 September 2022)Citing Politico: about 46 aircraft, about 25 per cent of usable Afghan aircraft; Uzbekistan says they belong to the United States.
- Kun.uz: Uzbekistan’s MFA calls reports on helicopter transfer to Afghanistan fake news (12 September 2025)Afghan media claimed 57 helicopters would be returned; MFA spokesman Ahror Burkhanov: “this is fake news”; 22 aircraft, 24 helicopters and 585 servicemen entered in August 2021.
Figures verified 2026-09-30. Back to the Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces.