The Armed Forces of Turkmenistan are being rearmed with the ARX160A1/A2 5.56 mm assault rifles made by an Italian company Beretta and the Tavor-family 5.56 mm carbines produced by an Israeli company Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), according to the photos released by the magazine Milli Gosun, the official media outlet of the Turkmen Ministry of Defense (MoD).

Beretta ARX-160A1 5.56mm assault rifle (Picture source Twitter)

The magazine has published a gallery of photos made during a military parade devoted to the 28th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s independence. The servicemen of the Turkmen Land Force were carrying the ARX160A1 5.56 mm assault rifles with optical sights attached to the firearm’s upper MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail. However, the weapons lacked any other accessories.

The Turkmen Air Force servicemen, who were involved in the parade, were armed with the basic ARX160A1 5.56 mm assault rifles with no sights or accessories. The members of the Turken Special Forces were carrying the same variant of the firearm. Nevertheless, some black-dressed special units received ARX160A1s with longer barrels and optical scopes.

Other participants of the parade were armed with ARX160A1/A2 assault rifles and carbines in various configurations. Some weapons were fitted with optical scopes.

Therefore the elite units of the Turkmen military appear to have been rearmed with thr Beretta ARX160-family 5.56 mm firearms, which are chambered for STANAG 4172 5.56x45 mm cartridges. Previously, the Turkmen Armed Forces were armed with Kalashnikov AK-74-family assault rifles chambered for the Soviet/Russian 5.45x39 mm cartridges. Moreover, some Tukrmen special units are known to have been fitted with the Israeli-made Tavor X95 5.56 mm carbines. Thus, Ashgabat walks away from the main caliber of infantry weapons of the post-Soviet countries.

The ARX160 is an Italian modular assault rifle manufactured by the Italian Company Beretta. Developed for the Italian Armed Forces as part of the Soldato Futuro (English: "Future Soldier") program, the ARX160 was launched in 2008 as a commercial weapon system independent from the Soldato Futuro ensemble, complete with a companion single-shot 40×46mm NATO low-velocity grenade launcher, called the GLX160, which can be mounted underneath the rifle or used with an ad hoc stock system as a stand-alone weapon.

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