Postscript to Independence Day parade

PanARMENIAN.Net - The huge military budget of Azerbaijan, the lion’s share of which accumulates in the pockets of the top brass and the generals instead of being applied to reforming the army, produces quite the opposite effect. And here come all sorts of nonsensical statements and comments on the parade in Yerevan, which, as compared to the military parade in Baku on June 26, truly demonstrated the power of the Armenian army. It’s rather simple to buy weapons, but much harder to train and bring up a true warrior. Especially for Azeri soldiers, whose favourite weapon is the ax, learning to use weaponry is not a difficult job.

According to expert on weapons, political scientist Sergey Minasyan, in addition to the traditional “post-Soviet set” (tanks T-72, armoured personnel carriers BTR-80, infantry combat vehicles BMP-2, 122-mm and 152-mm self-propelled howitzers, attack helicopters Mi-24 and attack planes Su- 25), and previously demonstrated Chinese Multiple Rocket Launcher Systems WM-80 “Typhoon”, the Armenian army also displayed a number of new weaponries. In particular, for the first time publicly demonstrated were the operational-tactical missile systems R-300 9K72 Elbrus (“Scud B” in NATO classification), tactical missile systems 9K79 Tochka-U (with a range of up to 110 km), missile systems S-300 PS/PM. In addition, also for the first time there were demonstrated the unmanned aerial vehicles “Krunk” (“Crane”) made in Armenia, designed and manufactured at the enterprises of the local defense industry.

Meanwhile, the non-military political leadership of Armenia refrained from displaying the newly adopted 300-mm multiple rocket launcher systems “Smerch” (Tornado), which clearly fits in the traditional concept of “strategic indefiniteness” of the Armenian armed forces, when the most advanced and powerful systems are not revealed, making it difficult for potential enemy to counteract. For instance, for the first time since their adoption in the early 1990s there were demonstrated during this parade the OTR “Scud-B”. Similarly, the S-300 were publicized almost a decade after their adoption by the defense forces of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

Well, and the Azerbaijani side found a single peg and rolled it to the maximum degree possible. Rasim Musabekov, Vafa Guluzade, Mubariz Gurbanly and unrivaled Mubariz Ahmedoglu in every possible way bandied about the presence of Russian servicemen in the parade. In the words of Musabekov, presence of the 102nd Russian military base in the parade is a clear sign of inferiority of the Armenian state. We leave these statement on the conscience of Mr. Musabekov, the more so since it is worth nothing. They told him, and he had to say. Nothing personal. Neither was Vafa Guluzade able to come up with anything new. He limited himself to the maxim that “Armenia is a colony of Russia”. But the “brightest” assessment of all was given by Mubariz Ahmedoglu, who described the parade as “a failure show”. Obviously, he confused the Yerevan parade with the Baku “procession”.

Nevertheless, the military parade in Yerevan demonstrated strength and evidenced that the Armenian army is powerful, organized and ready to fight off any aggression. After all, Western experts’ assertions on the Armenian army being the most powerful in the region are not made for mere effect. The army is really strong and its strength is not only in its weaponry but also in the morale. And the fact of women’s presence in the parade was yet another indication of modernization of the Armenian military. Homeland must be protected by everyone, irrespective of sex, as it has always been, for example, in Israel. The parade also indicated that the balance of power in the region is preserved and the armament race imposed on Armenia was not worth the effort. No matter how much Ilham Aliyev amuses himself with costly toys like drone aircraft, conclusion is the same: drones are shot down and so will it be in the future, and should Aliyev decide to launch a war, his lot is to be even worse than that of Saakashvili – he will simply lose his sultanate.