November 21, 2010:  The Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan has bought seven Italian helicopters (two AW101s and five AW139s). The AW139s are commonly used for search and rescue work. These are six ton aircraft with a max speed of 300 kilometers an hour, endurance of about three hours and capacity for 15 passengers. The AW101s are transports, often used by the military. These are 15 ton medium transport helicopters. AW101s can carry five tons of cargo or up to twenty passengers. Top speed is 300 kilometers an hour and endurance is about four hours.

Turkmenistan, which has a coastline on the Caspian Sea, is rebuilding its Cold War era military, which is currently equipped with old Soviet era gear. The country has a small (5.1 million) population for a nation that is a little smaller than Spain. But Turkmenistan has lots of natural gas, providing lots of money for the dictatorship that runs the place to buy new military gear.