High-Tech Industry Minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, commenting on last week’s agreement to equip Armenia’s air defense with advanced U.S.-made V-BAT reconnaissance drones, said the systems produced by Shield AI are ranked among the best in the world.

The minister noted that Armenian defense industry companies have not produced drones of this type. According to him, if comparable technological solutions had been available domestically, the question of imports would not have arisen. He stressed that the primary beneficiary and interested party in such production is the High-Tech Industry Ministry itself, 1lurer.am reports.

He said that, in general, the consumption of local products and the allocation of state orders to defense industry companies have been encouraged. At the same time, in his assessment, it is necessary to “adequately” evaluate existing capabilities and acknowledge that there is still a long way to go before creating products competitive in the international market.

“What is produced by Shield AI is among the best in the world, and now an important new chapter is opening with Shield AI — not only for the Defense Ministry, but for the High-Tech Industry Ministry — within the scope of possibilities to develop dialogue around knowledge transfer and technology transfer, as well as to conduct joint research or carry out development projects.

This is about bringing additional capabilities into Armenia within the framework of this cooperation in terms of production and research.

To summarize, I must say that this decision, which was of crucial importance for our Armed Forces and for Armenia–U.S. strategic cooperation in the defense sector, was a major achievement. In essence, it was simply not technically possible to meet this need through domestic production,” the minister said.

During a visit to Yerevan, the U.S. vice president announced that the United States would sell $11 million worth of V-BAT reconnaissance drones to Armenia.