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  • Azerbaijan Rearms

    AZERBAIJAN REARMS

    Strategy Page
    http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htproc/articles/20110301.aspx
    March 1 2011

    Azerbaijan is buying 24 Mi-35M helicopter gunships from Russia. The
    Mi-35 is the export version of the most recent upgrade of the Mi-24.

    This is a twelve ton helicopter gunship that also has a cargo area that
    can hold up to eight people, or four stretchers. The Mi-35M can carry
    up to 2.4 tons of rockets, missiles bombs, as well as an automatic
    cannon. It is used by over thirty countries, and has a pretty good
    reputation for reliability. The Mi-24 design is based on the earlier
    Mi-8 transport helicopter. The "M" model is equipped with Western
    sensors and avionics and can operate at night and in all weather. The
    Mi-35M has a top speed of 310 kilometers an hour and cruises at 260
    kilometers an hour. Typical sorties are about three hours long.

    This purchase is the result of the oil rich Turkic nation of Azerbaijan
    increasing its defense budget 87 percent, to $3.1 billion.

    Nearly half the budget will be spent to modernize the armed forces.

    Located on the Caspian Sea, in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan was part of
    the Soviet Union until 1991, and much of its military equipment is of
    Cold War vintage. Azerbaijan is mostly Moslem, and has some serious
    territorial disputes with its Christian neighbor, Armenia. The two
    countries have been at each other's throats for nearly two decades
    because of a land dispute. Although Azerbaijan has three times more
    people and much more money (because of the oil), the Armenians are
    better soldiers, and the dispute has been stalemated. Azerbaijan has
    a population of nine million and a GDP of $43 billion compared to
    3.2 million for Armenia and GDP of $8.7 billion. There are over nine
    million Armenians worldwide (including the 3.2 million in Armenia),
    making it clear that most Armenians want to be anywhere but Armenia.

    But not everyone could get out. Moreover, Armenians have been in
    Armenia for over 3,000 years, but there is a certain attachment to
    the place.

    Azerbaijan is determined to reverse this string of defeats, and this
    rivalry has taken some strange turns. Last year, Armenia accused
    Azerbaijan of hiring Internet criminal hackers to cripple Armenian
    access to the Internet. Apparently, someone in the Azerbaijan
    government got familiar with Internet criminal gangs, which have
    been quite popular in Russia and Eastern Europe, mainly because of
    either no laws against Internet based crime, or lax (or just inept)
    law enforcement. Nothing came of this rumored plot.

    Back in 2009, Armenia signed a treaty that, in effect, makes it
    a protectorate of Russia. The deal extends the lease on a Russian
    military base in Armenia from 2020 to 2044. The 3,000 man Russian
    force in Armenia may be increased and Russia, in effect, guarantees
    Armenia's security. Armenia needs all the help it can get, as it is a
    landlocked Christian nation surrounded by three hostile Moslem states
    (Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran). To the north, there is Georgia which,
    while Christian, has its own problems with Russia. This deal makes
    any major move against Armenia by Azerbaijan very risky. While the
    Russians want to remain friendly with Azerbaijan, they have definitely
    taken sides here.

    In return for this security, Armenia will have to follow Russia's
    lead in diplomacy, and any other area the Russians feel is important.

    Meanwhile, the Russians will provide new weapons and equipment for
    the 43,000 troops in the Armenian military, and help arm an even
    larger reserve force.

    The only active enemy Armenia has at the moment is Azerbaijan. Both
    countries continue to disagree over possession of Nagorno-Karabakh,
    a 4,400 square kilometer district, full of Armenians, surrounded by
    Azerbaijani territory. Technically, there has been a truce between
    Armenia and Azerbaijan since 1994. But it has been a hot truce.

    Between 1991 and 1994 there was a war between the two countries over
    Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenia won. Some 20,000 people died, and over
    a million (400,000 Armenians and 700,000 Azerbaijanis) fled their homes
    as Armenia occupied 31,000 square kilometers of Azerbaijani territory,
    to connect Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. Most of the refugees were
    from areas dominated by one group, who drove out the minority. Some
    40,000 Azerbaijani civilians were driven from Nagorno-Karabakh. The
    situation was humiliating for Azerbaijan, who saw it as yet another
    example of more powerful and wealthier (via oil fields) Moslems being
    defeated by a smaller number of armed and more capable non-Moslems.

    The Armenians have survived, although surrounded by Moslems, for
    centuries. But the Armenian economy is a disaster, particularly since
    Turkey and Azerbaijan have closed their borders with Armenia. Since
    the early 1990s, the best educated Armenians have been emigrating.

    They join a six million strong community of expatriate Armenians. This
    group can raise millions of dollars on short notice, and have provided
    the emergency funds when needed for the fighting against Azerbaijan.

    Some twelve percent of the 150,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh are
    armed and organized to defend the mountainous area, and are backed
    up by even more troops in Armenia.

    But Azerbaijan is making a serious effort to create an effective
    military, and revive their economy. Azeri defeats at the hands
    of better trained, led and organized Armenian troops were caused,
    in part, by Azerbaijani corruption and double dealing among themselves.

    Moreover, the Armenians have a military tradition going back
    centuries. The Azeris are working hard to redress the military balance,
    thus the Armenian need for a Russian alliance, and the sharp jump in
    Azeri military spending. Despite the Armenian alliance, Russia wants
    to maintain good relations with Azerbaijan, and even sell it weapons
    that, if used against anyone, would be used against Armenians.




    From: A. Papazian
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