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NEW AIRPLANES OF OLD MODELS: AZERBAIJANI EXPERT CHARACTERIZES THE LATEST ACQUISITIONS OF THE AZERBAIJANI AIR FORCE
by R. Orudzhev
Source: Echo (Baku), March 30, 2007, p. EV
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
April 2, 2007 Monday
SECTION: MILITARY INDUSTRIES & CONVERSION; No. 35
THE AIR FORCE OF AZERBAIJAN DEMONSTRATED MIG-29 AIRPLANES BOUGHT
FROM THE UKRAINE; Yesterday, the Azerbaijani air force performed
demonstrative flights of MiG-29 and Su-25 airplanes and combat
helicopters at the air base in Gadzhi Zeinalabdin Tagiev settlement.
According to mass media reports, the MiG-29 airplanes were bought by
Azerbaijan from Ukraine.
Yesterday, the Azerbaijani air force performed demonstrative flights
of MiG-29 and Su-25 airplanes and combat helicopters at the air base in
Gadzhi Zeinalabdin Tagiev settlement. According to mass media reports,
the MiG-29 airplanes were bought by Azerbaijan from Ukraine.
Day.az reports with reference to ANS that, for the first time since
establishing its national armed forces, Azerbaijan holds a presentation
of its purchased armament.
Officially, it was reported that flights at the air base were performed
to study the level of training of Azerbaijani pilots.
Representatives of local television channels were also invited to
the demonstrative flights.
Answering the question to what extent the new acquisition would
strengthen Azerbaijani aviation, retired Major General Vladimir
Timoshenko, Azerbaijani military expert, said that "in principle,
the fact of this acquisition speaks for itself. These are very modern
airplanes that have very high combat characteristics. They have high
agility and the ability to fly at a very small altitude. In other
words, this model suits the conditions of Azerbaijan and its relief,
exceeding even the Su-27, known by its perfect qualities. The main
thing now is to learn to use these airplanes."
Uzeir Dzhafarov, another well known defense expert, expressed a
more pessimistic point of view. Dzhafarov said: "Information about
the purchase of these airplanes was known for a sufficiently long
time and the authorities simply refused to discuss it. To speak of
these airplanes as modern is absolutely at odds with facts. They are
simply new by themselves, that is, they have not been used. According
to their technical characteristics, I would say, they do not comply
with contemporary requirements. These airplanes were simply reserves;
in other words, they were stored in hangars and were not used to date.
Proceeding from this fact, it is announced that Azerbaijan has bought
new MiG-29 airplanes. I would answer those who think that these are
modern airplanes with the following: this acquisition is similar to
the situation when Uganda and Georgia bought BMP-3 combat infantry
vehicles from the Ukraine and Azerbaijan bought a BMP-1 from it. Some
of our military merchants said that the BMP-1 vehicles were allegedly
more suitable for maneuvering on mountainous terrain than the BMP-3.
It is clear that this was also a lie. If we compare the MiG-29
airplanes bought by us with the armament available in Armenia at the
102nd Russian base in Gyumri, we can see that our airplanes are more
vulnerable. Their field for maneuvering and for the fulfillment of
combat tasks is not very high in comparison."
Dzhafarov adds: "I would like to stress that currently Armenia has
much stronger fighters, bombers and attack airplanes which are far
superior to the MiG-29. Along with this, the Russian party keeps
supplying Armenians with new kinds of armament. It is no secret that
Armenia has air defense missiles S-300 and S-400 systems, which will
appear at the 102nd base soon. General of the Army Mikhailov, Commander
of the Russian Air Force, has already announced this. That is why,
purely subjectively, I am not happy with our latest acquisitions. I
think that instead of the MiG-29, of which, I was told, we bought
around 9-12 pieces, we could have purchased a smaller quantity of more
modern airplanes. For some reason, we share the erroneous belief that
the more pieces of armament we have the better.
As a result, Robert Simmons, special envoy of NATO in the Caucasus,
announced recently that both Armenia and Azerbaijan already breached
the armament quotas set for them in the framework of the all-European
agreements."
by R. Orudzhev
Source: Echo (Baku), March 30, 2007, p. EV
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
April 2, 2007 Monday
SECTION: MILITARY INDUSTRIES & CONVERSION; No. 35
THE AIR FORCE OF AZERBAIJAN DEMONSTRATED MIG-29 AIRPLANES BOUGHT
FROM THE UKRAINE; Yesterday, the Azerbaijani air force performed
demonstrative flights of MiG-29 and Su-25 airplanes and combat
helicopters at the air base in Gadzhi Zeinalabdin Tagiev settlement.
According to mass media reports, the MiG-29 airplanes were bought by
Azerbaijan from Ukraine.
Yesterday, the Azerbaijani air force performed demonstrative flights
of MiG-29 and Su-25 airplanes and combat helicopters at the air base in
Gadzhi Zeinalabdin Tagiev settlement. According to mass media reports,
the MiG-29 airplanes were bought by Azerbaijan from Ukraine.
Day.az reports with reference to ANS that, for the first time since
establishing its national armed forces, Azerbaijan holds a presentation
of its purchased armament.
Officially, it was reported that flights at the air base were performed
to study the level of training of Azerbaijani pilots.
Representatives of local television channels were also invited to
the demonstrative flights.
Answering the question to what extent the new acquisition would
strengthen Azerbaijani aviation, retired Major General Vladimir
Timoshenko, Azerbaijani military expert, said that "in principle,
the fact of this acquisition speaks for itself. These are very modern
airplanes that have very high combat characteristics. They have high
agility and the ability to fly at a very small altitude. In other
words, this model suits the conditions of Azerbaijan and its relief,
exceeding even the Su-27, known by its perfect qualities. The main
thing now is to learn to use these airplanes."
Uzeir Dzhafarov, another well known defense expert, expressed a
more pessimistic point of view. Dzhafarov said: "Information about
the purchase of these airplanes was known for a sufficiently long
time and the authorities simply refused to discuss it. To speak of
these airplanes as modern is absolutely at odds with facts. They are
simply new by themselves, that is, they have not been used. According
to their technical characteristics, I would say, they do not comply
with contemporary requirements. These airplanes were simply reserves;
in other words, they were stored in hangars and were not used to date.
Proceeding from this fact, it is announced that Azerbaijan has bought
new MiG-29 airplanes. I would answer those who think that these are
modern airplanes with the following: this acquisition is similar to
the situation when Uganda and Georgia bought BMP-3 combat infantry
vehicles from the Ukraine and Azerbaijan bought a BMP-1 from it. Some
of our military merchants said that the BMP-1 vehicles were allegedly
more suitable for maneuvering on mountainous terrain than the BMP-3.
It is clear that this was also a lie. If we compare the MiG-29
airplanes bought by us with the armament available in Armenia at the
102nd Russian base in Gyumri, we can see that our airplanes are more
vulnerable. Their field for maneuvering and for the fulfillment of
combat tasks is not very high in comparison."
Dzhafarov adds: "I would like to stress that currently Armenia has
much stronger fighters, bombers and attack airplanes which are far
superior to the MiG-29. Along with this, the Russian party keeps
supplying Armenians with new kinds of armament. It is no secret that
Armenia has air defense missiles S-300 and S-400 systems, which will
appear at the 102nd base soon. General of the Army Mikhailov, Commander
of the Russian Air Force, has already announced this. That is why,
purely subjectively, I am not happy with our latest acquisitions. I
think that instead of the MiG-29, of which, I was told, we bought
around 9-12 pieces, we could have purchased a smaller quantity of more
modern airplanes. For some reason, we share the erroneous belief that
the more pieces of armament we have the better.
As a result, Robert Simmons, special envoy of NATO in the Caucasus,
announced recently that both Armenia and Azerbaijan already breached
the armament quotas set for them in the framework of the all-European
agreements."