Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Israeli companies’ are actively involved in supplying arms to Azerbaijan

October 18, 2010 | 17:05
Referring to military sources, the APA News Agency reports an agreement has been reached under which the Elbit Systems Company (Israel) is to modernize the T-72 tanks adopted by the Azerbaijani armed forces. The Israeli company has modernized some tanks before under a pilot project. Specifically, the armor and fire-guidance systems were modernized. The ASELSAN Company (Turkey) carried out similar work in Nakhichevan. The Azerbaijani Government preferred the Israeli company. The Elbit Systems Company opened its office in Azerbaijan, Elbit Systems of Azerbaijan, last September.

Turkey, however, will not come off as the loser. The MKEK Company is negotiating joint production of small arms and ammunition with Azerbaijan. The company’s office reports a tentative agreement on production of some types of small arms has been reached. A proposal for MKEK license-based joint production of revolving grenade launchers has been made.

The Turkish company and the Ministry of Defense Industry of Azerbaijan plan joint production of the IST-12,7 sniper’s rifle, designed by Azeri engineers, the Voga-12 rifle (Turkey), a submachine gun for special operations and close combat as well as a revolving grenade launcher.

http://news.am/eng/news/34935.html

[Eddo211]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

^^^this is not good, those Israeli tank upgrades are no joke if they end up to be the same system as the Turkish tank upgrades.

[burjuin]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

A squad of Armenian soldiers huddles down as two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters land in a field in Crep-Crepana Kosovo during a Quick Reaction Force training exercise Sept 18, 2010.

[arakeretzig]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

......

Azerbaijani army violates ceasefire 24 times

24 cases of violation of ceasefire regime were registered along the line of contact of Karabakh-Azerbaijan armed forces on October 21 night. Azerbaijani army fired over 270 shots at Karabakh positions.

Azerbaijani party most intensively fired at Seysulan sector, Martakert region of NKR, firing more than 160 bullets.

The enemy was silenced by response fire.

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan: Baku Embarks on Military Spending Surge, Seeking Karabakh Peace
October 22, 2010 - 1:19pm, by Shahin Abbasov
Armenia Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijan’s parliament on October 22 approved a military budget of 2.5 billion manats, or about $3.12 billion. That figure is higher than the entire state budget of Baku’s neighbor and longtime foe, Armenia.

Experts in Baku believe the spending surge is designed to send a message to both Armenia and the international community: if efforts to reach a peace deal on the Nagorno-Karabakh territory remain stalled, Azerbaijan could again resort to force in an attempt to settle the conflict. Experts in Baku are quick to emphasize, however, that despite the massive increase, there are no concrete signs that suggest Azerbaijani leaders are actively planning for a resumption of warfare.

The military budget received near-unanimous backing in parliament, passing by a vote 104-5 vote. Defense spending will account for about 20 percent of the government’s total expenditures of 12.5 billion manats (roughly $16 billion) in 2011. That represents nearly a two-fold increase in defense outlays over 2010, according to Finance Minister Samir Sharifov. The overall government budget for 2011 rose only by 5 percent over this year’s state spending total.

The defense appropriation was seen as an important milestone, fulfilling a 2007 prediction by President Ilham Aliyev that Azerbaijan’s military spending would soon outstrip Armenia’s entire state budget. Armenia plans to spend 139 billion drams, or about $386 million, on its defense sector next year, out of a total budget of 998.4 billion drams, or about $2.8 billion.

At an October 20 cabinet meeting, President Aliyev did not conceal his satisfaction with Azerbaijan’s fiscal might, created by the county’s abundant energy resources. “At present, the Azerbaijani army is the strongest and most battle-worthy in the South Caucasus,” he declared, local news outlets reported. “In 2011, our military spending will be more than Armenia’s whole state budget. But we will not stop here. We plan to increase our defense spending further.”

“Unlike Armenia, we use our own money. We do not depend on any country, we have no debts to any country and we are not begging anyone,” Aliyev continued, making a not-so-tacit dig at Armenia’s strategic relationship with Russia.

Officials in Baku are not divulging how exactly Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry will spend all the money. Finance Minister Sharifov told parliament that 1.4 billion manats (about $1.75 billion) will be spent on modernizing the Azerbaijani armed forces and purchasing new armaments. An additional 1.87 billion manats (about $2.33 billion) will go to “special projects aimed at increasing Azerbaijan’s military potential,” he added without elaborating. The Ministry of Defense Industry, which operates separately from the Ministry of Defense, will also see its budget increase, Sharifov added, but he did not provide numbers.

One military expert cautioned that spending big does not necessarily mean spending effectively. No precise information exists about what arms will be purchased with the 1.4 billion manats, noted Jasur Sumarinli, editor of the Milaz.info military news portal. Citing unnamed Defense Ministry sources, Sumarinli said that he had been told that “about 600 million manats [about $749 million] from this will be spent to buy two S-300 anti-aircraft systems from Russia, [armaments that] would not have much practical use in the case of a Karabakh war.”

The S-300, the rough equivalent of the US Patriot missile defense system, is generally meant to protect strategic assets such as oil rigs and pipelines.

At present, talks aimed at resolving the Karabakh conflict, held under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation’s Minsk Group, are stalemated. The last meeting between Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, held in June, failed to break the logjam.

Over the past several years, Aliyev has repeatedly indicated that Baku’s patience with the years of start-and-stop negotiations with Armenia is wearing thin. Of late, verbal sniping between the Azerbaijani and Armenian governments has picked up. Both presidents in mid-October, for example, publicly referred to the other side’s alleged state-sponsored “fascism.”

Baku-based political analyst Rasim Musabekov believes Azerbaijani leaders are hoping the defense appropriation exerts pressure on Armenia to make political concessions in the Karabakh peace talks. A special OSCE mission is scheduled to release a report in a few days about the situation in Armenian-occupied territories adjoining Karabakh.

“Baku wants the mediators to understand that, with such a pace of defense spending, Armenia’s military defeat would become inevitable in a few years,” Musabekov commented. “Thus, if they do not want it to happen, they should speed up the peace talks.”

Editor's note: Shain Abbasov is a freelance reporter based in Baku. He is also a board member of the Open Society Foundation - Azerbaijan.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62223

[burjuin]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

31/05/2010 - AN-74-200, EK-74027 (cn 15-07), "Ayk Avia" - Kabul "International", Afghanistan
Damaged by a rocket during the night, shelling a / p Kabul "International"

[Eddo211]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Whoever towed that bird on that spot will get to buy lunch for the crew until the plane is fixed.

[gegev]

Azeri lambs lie. Aged lambs are called; sheep.

Azerbaijan’s parliament on October 22 approved a military budget of 2.5 billion manats, or about $3.12 billion. That figure is higher than the entire state budget of Baku’s neighbor and longtime foe, Armenia.
...

Given the fact that almost everything in Azeri propaganda is based on lies: I’m sure that the military budget numbers are based on the same thing.

Oil based budget is big enough, but the numbers are fake and the actual one is much smaller than the number advertised by the Arthakh war looser.

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Azeri lambs lie. Aged lambs are called; sheep.

Given the fact that almost everything in Azeri propaganda is based on lies: I’m sure that the military budget numbers are based on the same thing.

Oil based budget is big enough, but the numbers are fake and the actual one is much smaller than the number advertised by the Arthakh war looser.

thats probably true but you have to take into account how corrupt the defense minister is. he probably buys a few new weapons to show they are buying weapons, parading them around, then he spends majority of it on used weapons and keeps the rest for himself.

[ArmeniaR1]

Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan

Armenian su25 with Molniya R-60 air-to-air missile: