Nagorno-Karabakh: What are the military capabilities of Azerbaijan and Armenia?

Since the beginning of the 1990s there have been the most intense conflicts between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The parties blame each other for how the fighting that has been going on since Sunday began.

News on the ground points to the use of heavy weapons such as fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), tanks and artillery.

The data collected from open sources and the statements made show that while both countries have increased their military investments and expenditures in recent years, Azerbaijan has come to the fore in the military sense compared to Armenia.

Both countries, which were part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) until the early 1990s, provided most of their military supplies from Russia.

However, Azerbaijan, has oil and gas resources in recent years and this is the advantage of being able to deliver to the world market, military field especially in Israel, Turkey and provide diversity and with agreements with other countries, including Ukraine, has increased the capabilities of both.

Data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an independent organization based in Sweden conducting research on conflicts, military spending and arms trade, shows that Azerbaijan’s military spending between 2009 and 19 was almost four times that of Armenia.

During this period, while Azerbaijan spent about $ 20 billion on military spending, the amount paid by Armenia was $ 5 billion.

It is seen that Azerbaijan’s expenditures have increased rapidly, especially since 2010. Armenia, on the other hand, has increased significantly in the last two years, but at a much lower level than Azerbaijan.

According to the World Factbook published by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the ratio of military spending to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 is 4 percent in Azerbaijan; In Armenia, it was 4.9 percent.

The fact that the Armenian economy is much smaller compared to Azerbaijan plays a role in this.

Grigor Atanesian from the BBC Russian Service, from whom we received his views, said that Armenia is not an oil-rich country and therefore cannot match the level of military spending in Azerbaijan.

Atanes said: “On the contrary, Armenia, the fossil fuel reserves are not a landlocked country and the economy due to the 30-year Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is recently in a serious condition damaged by the trade embargo of Turkey and Azerbaijan.” , He said.

The quality and quantity of weapons in both Azerbaijan and Armenia are unknown. The fact that the Armenian army keeps some of its military equipment in Nagorno-Karabakh increases the unknown.

Azerbaijan ranks 64th and Armenia 111th on the military power index compiled by the US-based independent research organization Global Fire Power. This index is compiled according to military materials in the inventory of open source countries.

In a report published in July, the BBC’s Russian Service stated that, according to 2016 data, the number of tanks owned by Azerbaijan is estimated at 314 to 750, and Armenia between 100 and 166. While the number of aircraft combat in Azerbaijan is estimated at more than 100, this number is given as around 60 for Armenia.

With purchases made by Azerbaijan in recent years, more than 20 Russian-made MiG-29 and 11 Su-25 fighter jets have been added to its inventory. It also has Russian-made Mi-24 and Mi-35 attack helicopters.

On the other hand, Armenia’s air fleet includes Su-30 and MiG-29 aircraft, which it recently bought in Russia.

Speaking to the BBC’s Azerbaijani Service, security expert Fuad Shahbazov claims that Armenia also used Russian-made Alexander missiles in the conflicts.

However, military experts claim that due to the mountainous nature of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the risk of the aircraft being crushed is high and therefore the parties cannot use their air power much. It is also stated that it is difficult to deploy air defense systems in this region.

Azerbaijani security expert Azad Isazade told the Russian BBC: “First of all, this is a very mountainous region and it is really difficult to use air power. We also understand that over the years, systems of air defense ready to be activated at any time in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The S-400 was also purchased. It is not located in Karabakh, but is located in the Goris region on the border and protects the airspace above Karabakh ” , He said.

There is no confirmation or statement that Russia has sold the S-400 to Armenia. Armenia is known to use the short-range S-300 and Tor-M2KM system in air defense.

The S-300 system and the short-range Tor-M2E are also in the inventory of Azerbaijan.

UAVs are another vehicle that is reportedly used primarily by both parties to conflicts. Both countries use these vehicles for reconnaissance and tactical purposes. Armenia uses UAVs manufactured by itself and Azerbaijan uses those purchased in Israel.

At the end of last month, it was announced in Azerbaijan from Turkey interested in buying the UAV and SIH. Turkey has been delivered or produced by these tools that is currently being used in the conflict that is unknown.

Russian-made military materials are seen to dominate the military inventories of both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

However, especially after 2016, Azerbaijan is taking steps to diversify its military purchases.

In this sense, Israel and Turkey come to the fore. According to SIPRI data, Israel makes 17 percent of its military exports to Azerbaijan. Although a $ 1.6 billion military agreement was signed between the two countries in 2012, it is planned to supply Azerbaijan with air defense, anti-aircraft and UAV systems.

Azerbaijan, Turkey in February with Mali signed military and security cooperation agreements. Azerbaijan is expected to purchase products and services worth TL 200 million from companies in the Turkish defense industry. Also with Sihai UAV production from Azerbaijan and Turkey, announced the agreement with Altay tanks and attack helicopters.

Azerbaijani security expert Üzeyir Caferov told the BBC that the agreements Azerbaijan made with countries other than Russia were not political, it was due to the fact that it took everything it could get from Moscow.

Azerbaijan fulfills a part of the financing of these military agreements by selling natural gas and oil to the relevant countries.

Armenia, on the other hand, took steps to widen the scope of the deals it made with Russia and made a $ 40 million deal with India this year.

Russia recently delivered new Iskender ballistic missiles and SU-30M fighter jets to Armenia.

Atanesyan of the BBC’s Russian Service stated that Armenia is heavily dependent on Russia for security.

Atanesyan said: “When Armenia is in alliance with Russia through the Joint Security Treaty Organization and buys arms from Russia, it also benefits from discounts for membership of this organization. However, Russia sells arms to both Baku and to Yerevan, It should not be forgotten that it is made up of Russian and Soviet-made hardware.

India stands out among the countries with which Armenia has recently started to develop military relations.

Armenia has announced that it will purchase the SWATHI military radar system from India, where it has recently started developing military relationships. The price of this deal was announced at $ 40 million.