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Armenia has acquired MQ-35 V-BAT reconnaissance drones from the United States, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced during a meeting with American Vice President JD Vance on February 9.
“We have made significant progress in the fields of Armenia-U.S. military and defense partnership. In continuation of the bilateral longstanding security cooperation and the ‘Eagle partner’ military exercises ongoing for three consecutive years now, Armenia acquired from the United States V-BAT unmanned aerial vehicles,” Pashinyan stated.
The primer added the effectiveness of the drones has been proven through extensive use experience and will significantly contribute to strengthening Armenia’s defense capabilities.
Pashinyan also stated that the drone deal was implemented within the framework of the U.S. program on foreign military sales.
Vance, from his side, revealed the cost of the deal, saying that the U.S. had sold drones worth $11 million to its “good friend” Armenia.
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The V-BAT is produced by Shield AI. It features a single-engine ducted fan that enables it to take off and land vertically in confined spaces and to shift from hover to horizontal flight. Its autonomous software, branded as Hivemind, includes visual odometry navigation capabilities for operating in GPS and communication denied environments.
The drone has an endurance of more than 13 hours, maximum speed of 90 kilometers per hour, and a service ceiling of 5,500 meters.
Click to see full-size image. (X)In January of last year, Shield AI revealed that examples of the V-BAT were deployed and tested in Ukraine sometime during 2024.
Soon after this announcement, specifically in May, a report by Forbes revealed that a V-BAT partially severed three fingers of a U.S. Navy sailor who was helping it to land. Following this incident, which took place in April of 2024, U.S. military customers imposed restrictions on its flight, while they investigated this matter for several months. Later, Shield AI modified the V-BAT so that it no longer required human assistance to launch and land.
A single V-BAT costs anywhere from $500,000 all the way up to $1 million, which means that Armenia could get ten or more for $11 million.
At its core, the deal is likely an Armenian attempt to build military partnership with the U.S. Armenia spent the last few years boosting military cooperation with both France and India by buying howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, armored vehicles, radars and air defense systems from the two. Fear of Western sanctions against Russia was the main motive behind this move.
All recent deals with France, India, and even the U.S. are unlikely to change the balance of power with Azerbaijan in favor of Armenia. With it much larger finical resources, Azerbaijan maintains a qualitative military edge.
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