[ad_1]
Over the course of 6 weeks of battles, drones targeting Armenian and Nagorno Karabakh soldiers and destroying tanks, artillery and air defense systems, gave Azerbaijan a huge advantage in the war and provided the clearest evidence yet. of how the battlefield has changed thanks to drones, according to the newspaper. Washington Post.
The newspaper emphasized that the war in Karabakh revealed how a group of drones can provide air power to countries at a relatively low cost compared to conventional air forces, and that drones can suddenly turn a long-standing conflict and leave the forces behind. very exposed terrestrial.
Last Tuesday, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement, under the auspices of Russia, after six weeks of bloody battles, and about two thousand Russian soldiers, on Tuesday, began to deploy in this predominantly Armenian region and declared its unilateral independence from Azerbaijan after a war in the nineties of the last century.
In this agreement, Azerbaijan appeared as the winner, since the ceasefire would be maintained, and in return it would keep all the acquired lands, which include the historic and strategic city of Shusha located on a highway that links Armenia with the separatist capital Stepanakert , in addition to several of the seven provinces that have formed the security line for the Armenian separatists. 1990, including Gabriel and Fuseli.
Armenia must give up other provinces that its forces controlled in the 1990s: Kalbjar, before November 15, Agdam, no later than November 20, and Lachin, until December 1.
Cheap access
“Drones provide very cheap access to tactical aviation and precision-guided weapons, allowing them to destroy more expensive adversary equipment such as tanks and air defense systems,” said Michael Kaufman, Russian military analyst and director of studies at CNA.
“The air force is something very expensive. So Drones allow poor countries to have air power,” he added.
Over the past few days, Azerbaijan posted videos of drones bombarding the positions of Armenian forces in the trenches, helping to turn the battlefield in their favor.
Drones have increasingly become part of the war since the Pentagon deployed the MQ-1 Predator in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, and missile-launching drones are now being produced in many countries, including Turkey. China and Israel, and various parties have used them in combat. Including the war in Libya.
Turkey was able to change the form of the battles in Libya in favor of the reconciliation government forces, using drones, and inflicted heavy losses on Haftar’s forces, and thanks to these planes several cities were recovered.
Karabakh is the strongest example
Yet within months, Nagorno Karabakh became perhaps the most compelling example of how small and relatively inexpensive attack drones could transform the dimensions of conflicts that were once dominated by ground combat and conventional air power.
The war shed light on the weaknesses of advanced weapons systems, tanks, radars and surface-to-air missiles versus drones, and sparked a debate on whether the era of conventional tanks could end.
In 44 days, Azerbaijan used its fleet of drones, purchased from Israel and Turkey, to hunt down and destroy the Armenian weapons systems in Nagorno Karabakh, breaking through their defenses and allowing rapid advance.
Franz Stefan Gade, a researcher on the future of conflict at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that conventional military equipment, such as tanks and armored vehicles, will not become obsolete.
Analysts confirmed that Azerbaijan used unmanned reconnaissance drones to identify targets and sent armed drones to destroy them, noting that Azerbaijan has benefited from Turkey’s experience in its recent use of drones in Syria, as well as Libya, where its drones they defeated Russian Pantsir S1 air defense systems using them. Forces of dissident General Khalifa Haftar in May.
A warning from the UN
It is noteworthy that in early July, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Agnes Callamard, warned about the proliferation of armed drones, considering that they constitute a threat to international peace, and her comments came in a report that she prepared asking for responsibility for targeted killings by armed drones.
Callamard, the UN special rapporteur for extrajudicial and arbitrary executions, noted that more than 100 countries have drones, 12 of which use weapons.
Last year, the Center for Drone Studies at Bard College indicated that 10 countries have used drones in military strikes and 30 countries are seeking to obtain armed “drones.” This is a major change in the military framework. 10 years ago, most countries did not use them. These are the techniques for conducting strikes, according to the US website “The Hill.”
The British non-governmental organization, “Drone Wars UK”, seeks an international ban on the use of armed drones, and the United Nations has urged countries to ensure that the use of “drones” complies with international law.
Since then, UN Secretary General António Guterres has expressed his concern about “killer robots” and autonomous weapons that use artificial intelligence, however, despite the fear of these weapons and the ethics of the new world of war, the rest of the world has not decided to abandon technology. They want to build their own armed drones.
