Azerbaijan and Armenia decided to flex their muscles and exchanged shelling at the border with the use of artillery and small arms. According to media reports, casualties suffered by both sides.
Full-scale conflict is unlikely, but, as popular wisdom says, - "once a year and the stick shoots". The Wings of War Telegram channel offers to compare the composition of the Air Force of the two Caucasian countries.
Armenian Air Force
The composition of the Armenian Air Force is very modest. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yerevan did not inherit a large amount of aviation technology, and at the beginning of the Karabakh war (1992-1994 years) Armenian military lost part of their already small fleet of planes and helicopters.
Due to this, since the beginning of the 2000s, the Armenians have taken a course towards expanding and modernizing the fleet of combat aircraft.. According to the resource The Military Balance 2020, the total number of aircraft of the Armenian Air Force is 56 units (including Su-30SM and excluding BPLA):
warplanes (including combat training):
- Su-25 / UBK - 14 units;
- L-39 – 4 units;
- Su-30SM - 4 units.
Transport aircraft:
- IL-76 - 3 units;
- Airbus A319CJ - 1 unit;
Combat, special and multipurpose helicopters:
- Mi-24P / R / K - 11 units;
- Mi-8MT - 10 units;
- Mi-9 - 2 units;
- Mi-2 - 7 units.
UAV (intelligence): to 40 UAVs X-55, "Baze" and "Krunk"
certainly, Armenian Air Force needs new planes and helicopters, since with the current composition of aviation it will be very difficult to conduct hostilities. The first steps in this direction were taken by the government Nikola Pashinyan at the beginning 2019 of the year, when a contract was signed with Russia for the supply of four modern Su-30SM fighters. December 2019 These fighters were delivered to the Erebuni airfield and were greeted by the Prime Minister with great pride.
Besides, in the plans of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia to order from the Russian Federation an additional batch of Su-30SM fighters in the amount of up to 16 units.
Also, the Armenian side has a conventional trump card - the Russian military base in Gyumri. The base is equipped with S-300V anti-aircraft missile systems, fighters MiG-29, helicopters Mi-24P and Mi-8MT. The number of personnel of the base is about four thousand people.
Armenia is Russia's ally in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and, among other things, is used by the S-300 and Buk-M2 air defense systems. This gives Yerevan an opportunity not to look like "whipping boys" and to develop its armed forces without haste..
Air force of Azerbaijan
The fleet of aviation equipment of the Air Force of Azerbaijan in quantitative terms surpasses the Armenian, but there are practically no modern copies in it. The entire composition is the legacy of the USSR or modernized Soviet aircraft and helicopters purchased from Ukraine and Kazakhstan in the early 2000s. Azerbaijanis also suffered some aviation losses in the Karabakh war.
Most of the pilots of the modern Azerbaijan Air Force took courses and internships in Turkey, Germany and USA. At the moment, Baku is considering options for updating its Air Force, including within the framework of cooperation with Russia. According to The Military Balance 2020, now in service with Azerbaijan 122 units of aviation equipment (without UAV):
warplanes (including combat training):
- MiG-29 / UB - 15 units;
- Su-24 - 2 units;
- Su-25 / UB - 19 units;
- L-39 - 12 units.
Transport aircraft:
- An-12 - 1 unit;
- Yak-40 - 3 units.
Combat, multipurpose, special and training helicopters:
- Mi-24 - 26 units;
- Mi-17 - 20 units;
- Mi-8 - 13 units;
- Ka-32 - 3 units;
- Bell 412 — 1 unit;
- Mi-2 - 7 units.
UAV (reconnaissance and shock-reconnaissance):
- Heron — 1 unit;
- Aerostar — 4 units;
- Hermes 450 — 10 units;
- Hermes 900 — 1 unit;
- Orbiter — 40 units;
- Searcher 2 — 10 units.
Baku has similar problems with Yerevan in terms of the quality of its air forces. Obsolete technology will sooner or later have to be changed, but so far the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry is only looking at the Russian Su-35 and MiG-35 combat fighters, as well as for Leonardo M-346 combat trainers and Pakistani JF-17 fighters.
Turkey, as the main ally of Azerbaijanis, could encourage them to buy fighters from Russia, if Baku decides to purchase a Su-35 or Su-57E.
Baku is not a member of any military bloc and can only rely on itself and partly on Turkey, which now has its own problems. true, do not forget, that the sky of Azerbaijan is covered with S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, "Barak-8", "Buk-M1" and "Tor-M2E".
Quality upgrading of its Air Force should be a priority for Azerbaijan, as Armenia is already one step ahead in this regard.
Will there be a battle in the sky?
For a full-scale air confrontation, neither Armenia, neither Azerbaijan has sufficient forces yet - and they are unlikely to appear in the next five years. Russia, like a good neighbor, such a conflict is completely useless and therefore, in the event of a strong exacerbation, all possible diplomatic efforts will be made to reconcile opponents.
However, the sale of modern fighters, helicopters and military transport planes Baku and Yerevan may well replenish the Russian treasury. The reverse side of the coin - one of the parties to the conflict can be confident in its combat power and take rash steps on the border of the two countries or on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
To us, anyway, hopefully, that Armenia and Azerbaijan will learn to live in peace and harmony.
Author: Wings of War
