Russia and Kazakhstan are planning to form a joint regional air defence network, under which the Kazakh Air Force will defend Russian airspace along the border with Kazakhstan.

The creation of the network envisions free-of-charge deliveries of Russian S-300 air defence systems to Kazakhstan, chief of Kazakh air defences Lt Gen Alexander Sorokin said.

The joint regional air defence network will be similar to that of Russia and Belarus.

Kazakhstan currently has an undisclosed number of an earlier version of S-300, inherited from the erstwhile Soviet Union, according to RIA Novosti.