The authoritative military publication, the Army Recognition reported that Turkmenistan has purchased QW-2 (Syanvey-2) man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) from China.

According to the Army Recognition, the QW-2 MANPADS was presented during a visit of the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the military border unit of Turkmenistan.

It is a third generation man-portable shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile (SAM) developed in China by CASIC (China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation) for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and export customers. The QW-2 design has some resemblance with the Russian 9K310/SA-16 Gimlet portable SAM system which was the basis for its predecessor the QW-1 SAM system.

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The QW-2 missile can engage airborne threats at ranges between 500 meters to 6 kilometers flying at altitudes between 10 meters and 3,500 meters.

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According to the SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) arms trade database, Turkmenistan has already purchase other air defense combat equipment from China including the FM-90 a mobile Short-range air defense missile system, HQ-9 SAM medium to long-range surface-to-air defense missile systems, and KS-1A medium-range mobile air defense missile systems.