Caucasus (bbabo.net), - Azerbaijan has reduced its dependence on the Russian arms industry, including "purchasing and using hitherto unconventional means of warfare." This was stated by the rector of the National Defense University of Azerbaijan, Lieutenant-General Heydar Piriyev, as reported today, November 24, by the media of the republic.
"Unconventional" means of warfare, according to him, have become unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used to detect and destroy enemy air defense systems of short and medium range, for reconnaissance and destruction of enemy military equipment and manpower.
“For the destruction of enemy-owned weapons depots and missile systems, Israeli-made Harop kamikaze drones are among the most advanced UAVs in this category. In particular, these drones were successfully used to disable the S-300 missile systems (Armenian Armed Forces),” the Azerbaijani general said.
He further pointed to the "indisputable role" in the conduct of modern combat operations of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 strike and reconnaissance UAVs.
“Only in the first two weeks of the (44-day) war (in Karabakh), the Azerbaijani Armed Forces destroyed 60 air defense systems, mainly 9K33 Osa and 9K35 Strela, belonging to the Armenian army,” Piriyev said.
According to him, as a result of the diversification of arms purchases, Azerbaijan "managed to reduce dependence on the Russian arms industry, which has become traditional in many countries of the former Soviet Union."
Recall, according to military experts, during the 44-day war in Karabakh in the fall of 2020, the greatest danger to the Armenian forces, which were conducting mainly defensive battles, was represented by strike UAVs of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, primarily Israeli and Turkish models of this type of weapon. It was pointed out that the effective use of strike and reconnaissance UAVs by the Azerbaijani troops allowed Baku to achieve close to complete superiority in theater of operations, where the air defense systems of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army were unable to “close the sky” during periods of enemy tactics such as attack by a swarm of drones. According to information received from the conflict zone, the main part of the losses of the Defense Army of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in manpower and equipment was connected precisely with the attacks of Azerbaijani drones. Nevertheless, in 44 days of fighting, the Armenian forces, according to the Armenian Ministry of Defense, managed to shoot down more than 260 enemy drones, including over 10 Turkish Bayraktar TB2 UAVs.
Israel has been the main supplier of combat drones for the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in recent years. It is with this Middle Eastern country that Baku expanded cooperation in the military-technical sphere at the highest pace. Enterprises for assembling UAVs under Israeli licenses operate in the largest Transcaucasian republic.
Israel accounted for 2.4% of international arms and military equipment exports from 2017 to 2021, according to an April report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). At the same time, India, Azerbaijan and Vietnam became the main recipients of Israeli military products in this period.
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