![Chinese S-300 (HongQi 9 [HQ-9]) launcher during China's 60th anniversary parade, 2009 - Sputnik International](https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/101764/75/1017647515_0:93:1200:772_600x0_80_0_0_ece0d9fdcfc5001d3a46fb72154b3ccb.jpg "Chinese S-300 (HongQi 9 [HQ-9]) launcher during China's 60th anniversary parade, 2009")
Tashkent has also received at least one percussion UAV, the Pterodactyl (Yilong-1), which was developed by China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group.
Similar deliveries have been made to Turkmenistan, the website quotes Chinese newspaper "Huantsyu Shibao" as saying.
The contracts for the provision of defense equipment to these Central Asian countries were signed back in 2013.
The purpose of delivering weaponry to the countries is to reduce the price China has to pay them for natural gas, according to WantChinaTimes, a news website operated by The China Times group.
“Since natural gas produced in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan is vital to China's development, the country is willing to sell advanced weapon systems such as the FD-2000, an export version of the HQ-9 missile, to its western neighbors as a way to get better deals,” the website writes. “Yet there is a catch. If China successfully convinces both nations to purchase FD-2000s, they will then have to purchase Chinese radars, early warning aircrafts and even fighter jets to coordinate with the air defense system.”
