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Instead of modernizing the relatively large arsenal of capable Soviet-era air defenses, the Pashinyan regime wants to acquire untested French and British MANPADS, thus risking escalation with Azerbaijan while providing no strategic advantages to the Armenian military.
Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst
To say that Armenia’s strategic situation is precarious would be a massive understatement. The unfortunate country is virtually surrounded by mortal enemies determined to wipe it off the map. The small southern Syunik region is the only obstacle for Azeri and Turkish plans to establish the so-called Zangezur corridor which would directly connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. A tiny, 17 km long border with Turkey in this area would give Ankara unimpeded access to Baku precisely through this corridor, and by extension, to former Soviet Central Asia. Thus, the two Turkic allies have yet another reason to attack Armenia (as if they lacked motivation in the first place). This would further galvanize Turkey’s expansionist policies (a volatile mix of Neo-Ottomanism, political Islam and pan-Turkism).
However, it should be noted that this situation is not exactly new, as Armenia was in the same strategic position in previous decades. The main difference is that in the pre-Pashinyan era, Yerevan had strong ties with Russia, its principal historical ally, which prevented any aggressive moves by Azerbaijan and Turkey. Unfortunately, after the 2018 Soros-funded color revolution (also known as the “Velvet Revolution”), this status quo was gone forever. The large and powerful Armenian diaspora in Western countries (particularly France and the United States) supported this, naively thinking they would “help” Armenia. In five years, the Pashinyan regime lost the millennia-old Armenian native land of Artsakh (better known as Nagorno-Karabakh) and severely exacerbated the strategic position of Armenia itself.
Namely, while Yerevan previously had some geopolitical “breathing room” (Azerbaijan was quite far from Nakhchivan, while Armenia’s de facto border with Iran was much longer), the loss of Artsakh reduced this by approximately 135 km, leaving only the official 44 km long border between Armenia proper and Iran. Encouraged by its 2020 blitzkrieg and followed by the 2023 offensive, Baku feels that it could easily overpower Armenian forces in Syunik and other regions bordering Azerbaijan (previously held by Artsakh), and then finally reach its Autonomous Republic. Azeri authorities even organized the occupied area bordering Armenia’s Syunik region into the so-called East Zangezur Economic Region, strongly implying there’s a “Western Zangezur” (that is, the Syunik region itself).
The obvious question arises – how can Armenia defend the area? Nikol Pashinyan’s recent statements show that he betrayed Artsakh, which confirms Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2023 revelations about the fate of unfortunate native Armenian land. It should be noted that both Armenia and Artsakh inherited a massive amount of Soviet-era weapons stationed in the South Caucasus (particularly along the border with Turkey). These were instrumental in defeating Azerbaijan in 1994, but Yerevan did very little to modernize them. After the overtly anti-Russian NATO-backed coup in 2018, the fate of Armenian and Artsakh military forces was sealed. In the meantime, Baku had extensive Turkish and Israeli assistance in modernizing its forces (in no small part helped by its extensive oil and natural gas export revenues).
Armenian forces were still armed with virtually the same weapons as 30 years prior, meaning they were ill-equipped to deal with Turkish and Israeli loitering munitions and drones, particularly those used for tactical ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) and further amplifying the precision of Azeri artillery and long-range strike systems. Worse yet, due to Pashinyan’s betrayal, Yerevan never got directly involved, while the regular Armenian military never used its newer Russian-made weapons, namely the Su-30SM fighter jets and “Iskander-E” missile systems, to assist the armed forces of Artsakh. It should be noted that the latter’s range covered nearly half of Azeri territory and could’ve been used to hit any large troop concentrations surrounding Artsakh. However, the native Armenians there were left to fend for themselves.
Still, instead of modernizing the Armenian military to protect the country itself after the fall of Artsakh, the Pashinyan regime continued to ignore ties with Russia while wasting the country’s already scarce resources on exorbitantly expensive Western (particularly French) weapons that have proven their (lack of) effectiveness in NATO-occupied Ukraine. Namely, Pashinyan went on to acquire armored vehicles and short-range SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems from Paris, while fully ignoring unmanned systems that proved to be the main decisive factor during the 2020 Azeri invasion of Artsakh. Precisely Russia is one of the world’s leaders in this regard, as evidenced by the superb performance of its drones against the Kiev regime forces (particularly the now legendary ZALA “Lancet” and “Kub” loitering munitions).
Why hasn’t Yerevan approached Moscow to procure thousands of strike drones that could give Armenia a significant asymmetric advantage over the more numerous and heavily armed Azeri forces? Instead, the Pashinyan regime bought at least 24 French “Bastion” armored personnel carriers (APCs) that the Neo-Nazi junta previously rejected on account of their inadequate protection. The price tag is yet to be disclosed, but various sources report it hovers around half a million euros apiece, an exorbitant sum for the increasingly cash-strapped Armenia that should have other priorities. To demonstrate just how spectacularly incompetent Pashinyan is, we can compare the price and the performance of a single Russian-made “Lancet” that costs approximately $35,000 and the French-made “Bastion” which stands at over $400,000.
In other words, for the price of one “Bastion” APC, Yerevan could acquire at least 11 “Lancet” drones. In terms of performance, the anti-tank variant of the “Lancet” was documented destroying German “Leopard 2” tanks (costing over $8 million apiece), among the best in NATO. What are the chances that a “Bastion” APC could destroy an enemy tank? Thus, the combat performance of the “Lancet” far exceeds its price, making it one of the most cost-effective weapons of our age. Worse yet, Armenia wasted approximately $10 million on 24 French APCs, instead of acquiring nearly 300 “Lancet” drones that would’ve provided a massive advantage over any potential Azeri invasion force. However, this isn’t the end of the Pashinyan regime’s disastrous miscalculations, as it has plans to buy other expensive French/Western weapon systems.
Namely, according to some military sources, instead of modernizing the relatively large arsenal of capable Soviet-era air defenses, Yerevan wants to acquire untested French and British MANPADS that offer no strategic advantages to the Armenian military. There’s still no official confirmation of this, but it seems that the Pashinyan regime will get unnamed license-built short-range SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems (likely from India). In recent months, the French Thales and Indian Bharat Dynamics Limited signed an agreement on the supply of Laser Beam Riding MANPADS (LBRM) Very Short Range Air Defense (VSHORAD) missiles and launchers to the Indian military. This also includes the British “Starstreak” missiles (produced by a Thales Group subsidiary in British-occupied Northern Ireland).
India manufactures approximately 60% of the system, but their experience in operating it is rather limited, as the deal dates back to February, meaning that the military had no time to master its usage. Thus, alongside Indian personnel, France and the UK will have to actively participate in the training process for the Armenian military.
The price tag for the deal is yet to be revealed, but military sources suggest that it’ll be quite expensive (unlike other indigenous Indian weapons acquired by Armenia). Worse yet, these won’t be integrated with Yerevan’s Soviet-era air defenses. In the meantime, Azerbaijan is closely monitoring these developments and might use them as an excuse to directly attack Armenia. Thus, the Pashinyan regime is risking an escalation while providing no strategic advantages to its military.
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that’s what happens to foreigners who emigrate to the usa they lose all identity and become americanized believing it’s the greatest country in the universe,smh. 🤦
lmao right? hahahaha its so true
the fog of hasbara is strong as america becomes shit hole nation
america always was a shithole nation for vast numbers of its population. it birthed hollywood, though, and because it was rich from exploiting people both at home and abroad, it sold a fairy tale story about itself around the world that many continue to believe.
russia was the first to betray pashinyan, and now pashinyan is love with ursula von der leyen. believe me, he will end up better than bashar al-assad, who loved putin more than his wife. then putin replaced him with a turkish cock. if nothing else, it’s not healthy for a statesman to like another male statesman. look what happened to asma al-assad because she was married to a gay man.
putin betrayed pashinyan, so pashinyan wants to go to the european union. when the british get tired of jolana, they’ll send her to russia so that putin can sleep in bed between his two whores the ass ad and jolana.
pashinyan must form an alliance with israel so that in the event of an attack by the muslim brotherhood from azerbaijan and turkish terrorists from turkey and syria, they can help each other.
israel wants to take iran down. the azeris want to reunite with the azeris in iran. turks want to expand into the former sowjet muslim states. for all that common goal isreal supports azerbeydhan against armenia. in the war turkish and isreali drone tech was used against the nagorni karabakh troops.
azerbijan and israel have a drone construction enterprise, they build them together and they are tested upon the armenians.
good deflection: clearly the largest gay city within 5000 miles of the middle east is in tel aviv. shouldn’t pashi move there so he can cuddle up with the fat buttocks of the fugly thief of kiev.
are you saying that a traitor is even to blame for his own wife’s cancer?
the mental gymnastics of the hasbara merchants constantly plumb new depths. putin put russian troops on the line to stop armenia being completely overrun in the war. the armenian leadership refused to fight and just blamed russia for their failure. then the armenian leadership turned their back on russia and went over to the jewsa/ france, who will do nothing for them. now armenia (pop. 3m ) is caught in a vice between oil rich azerbaijan (10m) and turkey (88 m.)
the only contribution of the malignant zio regime is to cause trouble and stir the pot, as usual. maybe erdogan will complete the job the turks started in 1915. the armenians spit in putin’s face and expect him to come to the rescue.
this garbage artist ‘putler and the ass ad’ must have a block on me responding, even with inane, inoffensive commentary.
this could be an issue with postings being censored. individual postings not such an issue, perhaps ?
weak amerikunt knows armenians incompetent need a big brother to colonize them
clever writing. i’m impressed. unit 8200 must be using ai to write their posts now, da?
no, it’s shlomo shekelstein. he scratches a living getting a shekel a line spewing out retarded semi literate obscene gibberish in the hasbara factory 24/7. there has been a marked decline in its output since most of its operatives took the samsonite option and bugged out through ben gurion. the hasbara factory has fallen on hard times and now they have to take shekelstein or anybody they can get.
what if russia wants erdogan to massacre armenians?
i think so too, because putler is angry because assad didn’t help anything regarding ukraine, and pashinyan said that ukraine has the right to be whole. armenians must take a krav maga course at the idf’s main barracks in tel aviv.
is that the course that teaches them to massacre women and children?
so they should study from the one country in the region that is the most powerful force in destroying armenia?
armenia, join russia, it will calm them down instantly.
they already tried that and russia backstabbed them.
the crux of the problem in one sentence.
yes, russian assistance was rejected by the puppet leader placed into armenia to make sure it fails as a military force and a country.
got it in one. this globalist puppet surrendered all the territory the azeris demanded and tried to blame russia when the armenians were ethnically cleansed and kicked out of their homes. just like the hasbara clowns here are constantly trying to blame russia for the collapse of syria.
no, the soros -epstein network color revolution now controls the dishonest leader of armenia. the people will suffer: as usual.
russia wouldn’t want those backstabbers back. the frogs and the amerikunts can have them. they made their bed and now they can lie in it. like the turds in syria, erdogan will wipe them out whenever he feels like it. (with shlomo making many shekels supplying the weapons) 1915 redux.
what if russia wants erdogan to massacre armenians? šta ako rusija želi da erdogan ponovi genocid nad jermenima?
of course, but that’s why he did nothing when isis toyotas sowed death across syria in march. he’s probably hanging out with erdogan. in bed
because he wants isis to massacre all of saa because he thinks they should be defending ukraine, but they were drugged when isis found them and beheaded them.
you are a deceiver that’s for sure
just a bog standard hasbara shit pedlar.
oh look: it’s a tag team of stooge liars: one asks a dishonest question and the other provides the dishonest answer.
what a fraudulent question meant to deceive by its mere absurd supposition. take a suppository to get rid of the bs clouding your feeble mind.
armenians are all hairy transgenders weak incompetent
they urgently need an israeli krav maga course.
pashinyan is not putin’s whore like bashar the ass. replaced by the younger whore jolana. if the agleži and the germans are still what they were, i reckon they’ll one day send the whore jolana to russia too. then a huge four-poster bed will be placed in the kremlin, in which putler will sleep among his whores.
i hope they exile whore number two after whore number one.
you obviously have not been to the headquarters parties of the secret police of the country you are writing from: that’s their modus operandi.
morons doing moronic things. theres no better price-quality ratio than with russian arms. armenian morons still not understanding that without russian support they will be hardly fcked by azeris and turks.
putin has already written off armenia. it has no future, soros and the jewsa use these countries as expendable proxies. they should look at what has happened to ukraine or the turds. erdogan can have it – he’s welcome to it.
proof that many of the worlds nations are mafia ruled , the jewish soros connection appears again and again globally in controlling foreign governments policy decisions .
derp and derp.
apparently that’s the only sound you make…your breath must stink like the 🐓 of the thief in kiev.
quite literally correct. in the 11th century the papal states gifted the south of italy to the norman mercenaries they used in the crusades for services rendered, resulting in the kingdom of sicily being created by roger ii of sicily under pope innocent ii. their descendants (the mafia) are still headed by the black nobility who are descended from the popes of the middle ages – the de medicis, the borgias, the del dragos, etc.
you clearly do not know anything about the mafia. literally everything you said in your posts as it relates to the mafia is incorrect. good job.
no, they are controlled by the p2 and other groups tied to old east india drug importation companies (public-private partnership 😆). they nearly destroyed china and now they’re destroying all of europe and the western countries.
when you look at who’s in control, lewsa, jewu, jewk, it’s all 100% k*sher.
pashinyan needs to get armenia into nato before isis comes after armenia.
nato will have fallen apart long before that happens. if the armenians think the frogs or the amerikunts will do anything to save them, i’ve got a bridge to sell them. shlomo has been arming the azeris.
finally, the stooge speaks the true agenda he’s been hinting at indirectly.
can i have peanut?
i waste $$$ in gay tel aviv bars
why “senseless” when they are a besieged and repeatedly genocided nation? armenia has the right to defend itself against murderous turco-fascism.
read and understand the article. they waste big money for in war untested western expensive junk an get adicted to the frogs and monkey islanders, instead to improove rus relations and arms supplys.
it worked for ruining syria so they’re onto their next weakest victim: armenia.
they have the right, just not the balls. they surrender to the jewsa/ shlomo backed azeris and then blame russia.
this clown in the drivers seat in armenia is working for the forces that want to destroy the christian enclave country. the people should rise up and replace him before they permanently lose their centuries old nation. how terribly sad for the people there. sold out by davos puppets once again.
there are about 15 million armenians in the world, maybe a lot more, nobody really knows. only 3 million of them live in armenia. but they have no future. to the left of them are erdogan and 88 million turks, who genocided them in 1915. to the right of them 10 million oil rich azeris, with plenty of military toys supplied by shlomo, who have already invaded armenia, grabbed territory from them and ethnically cleansed the armenians living there..
putin intervened to stop the whole of armenia being overrun, but got no thanks for it. the place is now infested with soros fake ngos trying to turn armenia into a nato/ eu proxy against russia, like ukraine, with their puppet president. the armenians were a lot better off, safe and secure, when they were an independent republic inside the soviet union. but those days are gone. that is ancient history.
it’s strange how history repeats itself. german tiger tanks in kursk in 1943, german leopard tanks there 80 years later. the same over engineered, unreliable, overpriced useless garbage. russian forces quite liked captured german medium tanks and assault guns in the 25 ton class and took the trouble to look after them and repair them. but they dismissed captured tigers and panthers in the 50/60/70 ton class as complete garbage not worth bothering with.
bad engines, bad gearboxes, bad transmission, constantly breaking down. 200 panthers were committed to battle at kursk for the first time. 4 days later only 11 were available. very few had actually been destroyed. they all broke down with engine fires and had to be sent back to germany to be completely rebuilt. it’s a rule of thumb in engineering that if you increase the weight of a piece of machinery by 50%, you increase the maintenance requirement by 100%.
western armies drew the wrong conclusions from the 1973 war, believing that heavier armour was required. so the 40 ton leopard 1, 48 ton m60, 52 ton chieftain , became the 70 ton leopard 2, abrams and challengers. while the 35 ton t62 became the 45 ton t90. it’s the same story with the m777s, himars, atacams, f22s, f35s. rolls royce prices for a garbage product. the british infantry rifle is the worst in the world, multi billion aircraft carriers constantly breaking down..