ARMENIA DISMISSES AZERBAIJANI MILITARY BUILDUP
June 28, 2011
Military vehicles take part in a huge parade held in the Azerbaijani
capital, Baku, at the weekend.
YEREVAN — An Armenian military official has said that Yerevan is not
intimidated by Azerbaijan’s ongoing military buildup and the recent
purchase of sophisticated Russian antiaircraft missiles on display
in Baku over the weekend, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reports.
First Deputy Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan shrugged off Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev’s renewed threats to resolve the conflict
over the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh by force,
questioning Baku’s readiness for another war.
Tonoyan also expressed confidence that the Armenian side will maintain
the balance of power with its oil-rich neighbor through the acquisition
of more weapons and a sweeping reform of its armed forces.
“I think those statements are mostly political because our neighbor
is also aware of our real capabilities,” Tonoyan told RFE/RL in an
interview. “Nevertheless, if Azerbaijan starts military hostilities
out of self-deception, I don’t see a possibility of it achieving
strategic or tactical successes.”
A Military Show Of Force
On June 26, Azerbaijan held its biggest military parade since the
fall of the Soviet Union, a show of force that came just two days
after Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian failed to
reach an agreement on a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict
at a meeting held in Russia.
The parade in Baku involved thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks,
artillery systems, and other military hardware.
“I am completely sure that our territorial integrity will be [restored]
in any possible way,” Aliyev declared in a speech.
Armenia’s First Deputy Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan (right) and
Defense Minister Seyran OhanianThe most significant of the new weapons
shown by the Azerbaijani military were S-300 air-defense systems widely
regarded as one of the world’s most-potent antiaircraft weapons. Russia
reportedly sold at least two batteries of these surface-to-air missiles
to Baku last year in a deal estimated at $300 million.
News of that deal, which first emerged in July, raised concerns in
Armenia and Karabakh. Opposition groups there said it will seriously
limit the Armenian military’s ability to hit strategic targets in
Azerbaijan and will thereby encourage Baku to attempt a military
solution to the dispute.
Sarkisian and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, both of whom are former
military leaders of Karabakh, dismissed those concerns. Ohanian claimed
in particular that the Azerbaijani army “will need quite a lot of time”
to learn to use S-300s and that his troops know how to neutralize them.
Tonoyan echoed these assurances, adding that the Armenian armed forces
have more such missiles at their disposal.
“We are more familiar with those systems,” he said. “We have been
exploiting them for a fairly long time and know the possibilities of
reducing their effectiveness.
“Unlike Azerbaijan, our systems cover the entire airspace of
the likely theater of military hostilities and, in terms of their
qualitative and quantitative characteristics, represent a much greater
capability. Therefore, the existence of S-300 complexes should worry
not Armenia, but an Azerbaijan acting from the position of threats
of military action.”
Armenia officially confirmed the possession of such systems in late
December. Armenian state television showed at the time official footage
of S-300 batteries test-firing missiles in an undisclosed location.
It remains unclear when and on what terms Russia transferred these
weapons — which have a firing range of up to 300 kilometers —
to its main regional ally. They are only known to have been first
delivered to the Russian military base in Armenia in the late 1990s.
Intensifying Arms Race
“From a military standpoint, those systems do not threaten Armenia’s
and Karabakh’s security for the simple reason that it’s an antiaircraft
defensive weapon and neither Armenia nor the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
plan to start a military campaign against Azerbaijan,” insisted
Tonoyan. “Besides, they can only solve the issue of defending a part
of Azerbaijan’s airspace.”
“At the same time, the acquisition of such systems and political
speculation surrounding that issue show that our neighbor has switched
from the acquisition of offensive weaponry to the acquisition of
defensive weaponry. And that is also food for thought,” he added,
referring to the Azerbaijani buildup financed from Baku’s massive
oil revenues.
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev and President Ilham Aliyev
view the military parade in Baku at the weekend. On June 26, Aliyev
reaffirmed his government’s plans to boost military spending to $3.3
billion this year, up from $2.15 billion a year ago and just $160
million in 2003. By comparison, Armenia’s defense budget for 2011 is
projected to reach only $400 million.
Armenia has sought to stay in the intensifying arms race by
maintaining close military ties with Russia that entitle it to
receive Russian weapons at discount prices or even for free. A new
Russian-Armenian defense agreement signed in August commits Moscow to
helping Yerevan obtain “modern and compatible weaponry and [special]
military hardware.”
Ohanian said in February that Armenia acquired “unprecedented”
quantities of modern weaponry in 2010 and will continue the buildup in
line with a five-year rearmament plan approved by Sarkisian’s National
Security Council in December. The plan envisages, among other things,
the acquisition of long-range, precision-guided weapons.
“Considerable work has been done in that direction, and it will
continue at an even faster pace,” Tonoyan said. “Modern warfare also
requires corresponding operational-tactical skills, and coordinated
actions on communication, intelligence, and information technology. A
lot of work is also being done in that direction as well. And the
emphasis is being put on domestic manufacturing.”
In that context, Tonoyan stood by the Armenian Defense Ministry’s
announcement earlier this month that it is manufacturing and supplying
army units with unmanned military aircraft capable of flying deep
into enemy territory.
He also did not deny reports that the Armenian army is due to receive
more Russian weapons as a result of an ongoing restructuring of the
Russian base headquartered in Gyumri.
A senior Russian Defense Ministry official announced the transfer of
this “excess weaponry” last week, but did not elaborate.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said afterwards that it will
investigate the veracity of this information “through relevant
sources.”
The commander-in-chief of Russia’s ground forces, Colonel-General
Aleksandr Postnikov, twice visited Armenia and held talks with Ohanian
and other top military officials in April.
The Defense Ministry in Yerevan said the talks focused on an ongoing
redeployment of the Russian troops stationed in the country.