Army of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces

[Soner1980]

One of my uncles went to Azerbaijan this period and when he was back, he told me that the Azeri army was much upgraded compared from 10 years ago. But still lacks the dicipline and knowledge compared to the Turkish or even US army.

Because there is very limited information available from the Azeri army, I want to ask some people to share information about the Azeri army. Plz. no politicks ok???

[contedicavour]

Azerbaijan must be very good at diplomacy, since no matter how modernized its armed forces are, they remain small (66,000 soldiers, 250 MBTs, 55 combat aircrafts, 15 armed helos and 9 patrol boats) and are sandwiched between Iran, Russia, a still potentially hostile Armenia...

cheers

[Soner1980]

It is rumored that they have 80.000 infantry men and also 500 mbt including T-72's and T-55's. They bought the 'Smerch' MLRS and many second hand MiG-25 and some Su-25 planes. Also, the Azeri armed forces has 15.000 air landing division ready to deploy.

Do you think that the Azeri army will fit to NATO in the future?

[birdofprey]

i was in that country from 2002-4. along the border with georgia i witnessed three su-25 making a low pass with there after burners on! in another occasion while coming back from a family trip we saw a mig-25 take off from the runway.

one thing i miss about azeribijan is food!

[Soner1980]

According to my uncle's story, he is a captain in the Turkish Army, he told to me that the Azeri Armed Forces is good organized, well equipped, but lacks some disciple and other traditional things to enhence military effectiveness.

That you missed food in the army, can you explain it? What was you doing in Azerbaijan?

[birdofprey]

my dad works for the USAID and azerbaijan turned out to be our post. befor azer we were in georgia.

[Soner1980]

Tel me what you have discovered. You wrote that there was less food?Also in Turkey and in Holland there is not so much food like in America

What about the Azeri personnel, look they like good trained and equipped to you?

[birdofprey]

you sound like as if i am a soldier?? no man..
i do know that pakistani army is helping alot to improve azerbaijan's defence.
and i never said people have no food there.. lol i said i miss the good food there!

[Soner1980]

Me to. My uncle, a captain in the Turkish army, radio man, was for 6 month there for advise. My causin was in Azerbaijan to deliver weaponry to the Azeri army in 1994-1995. My causin drived the second truck in front from Ardahan to Azeri soil many times. Yes we have delivered many types of weapons to the Azeri army. From the website of Warriorsoul, we had purchased 48 SA-16 Grousse SAM's and about 50 AT-5 Spandrel ATGM's from Slovakia, I am almost sure that these weapons were also delivered to the Azeri army in the 1998 period.

Also 50+ T-54 tanks bought from Russia by Turkey has been delivered to Nakhcivan. I have read this in the newspaper Hurriyet. Interesting, after Turkey Pakistan is the second helper for our brothers in Azerbaijan. (Also US Army is helping, don't be surprized...)

But I want to know more on their Airforce and training of pilots and ground personnel.

[contedicavour]

SU25 (12) and especially SU24 (21) are great assets, though focusing air defence on the old, hard to manoeuvre, and badly armed (only AA6 as BVR) MIG25 (apparently up to 50, some being reconnaissance variants) seems to me a bit weird. With all the MIG29 and SU27/30 around (and the oil money to buy them), I would have expected the Azeri air force to pick those instead.

The army has approx 130 T72 (and as many T55) plus 350+ BMPs of different types plus 400+ artillery pieces of > or = 122mm calibre.

Comparisons with Armenia are very interesting : Armenia has 30 MIG29 and 15 SU25; the army has 100+ T72, 225 artillery pieces > or = 122mm calibre in Armenia and another 300 in Karabach region, 300+ AIFVs, etc.

What is also interesting is the Russian army base in Armenia, with S300 SAMs and another 30 MIG29s...

cheers

[Izzy1]

Jane's World Armies Assessment 30 May 2006:

Assessment TOP

The Azerbaijani Army has been suffering from over a decade of decline since its losses in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and its role in the attempted coups of 1993-95. It proved unable to recapture Nagorno-Karabakh, in part as a result of the superior discipline, better training and more qualified leadership of the opposing Armenian forces, and continues to suffer from severe problems in training, equipping and motivating its soldiers. It is, however, a better-organised and more professional service than it was then. Despite these positive changes, the Army and the other services as well are still hampered by corruption in the ranks and a highly politicised officer corps; and it lacks a consistent and co-ordinated training programme for individual soldiers as well as small and larger units, who are especially lacking in combined arms/joint service training.

Among the enlisted ranks, corruption, hazing and the forced conscription of young men are all common practices and serve further to degrade the Army's operational effectiveness. The conscription process is reportedly fraught with corruption, with bribes guaranteeing deferments or exemptions, and a high level of non-compliance - possibly as much as 20 per cent in 2000. Reporting indicates that the conscription process is anything but universal and that both the quality and quantity of the conscripts continues to suffer. The Army is also plagued by poor living conditions, inadequate or irregular pay and an overall lack of decent equipment and supplies.

The destabilising effects of such poor conditions is reflected in incidents of abuse, desertion and mutiny, and an increasing level of injury and death among conscripts, all of which negatively affect morale and personnel readiness. Several high profile events in 2002 revealed the extent of these types of problems in the Army and the armed forces as a whole. Efforts have since been underway to improve living conditions within the army, with increased pay and bonuses, improvements in housing allowances and increased food rations.

The quality and readiness of much of the Army's equipment is also a problem, as a decade of poor maintenance and chronic shortages of spare parts means that many systems are non-operational, cannibalised for parts, or operating at less than optimal status. Moreover, much of the older generation equipment is in need of systems upgrades and modernisation, that is, communication packages, fire control and target acquisition systems, and so on. As a result, the readiness levels and operational capabilities vary significantly between units.

After more than a decade of relative neglect, the Army and the armed forces as a whole face a number of daunting challenges that they must overcome if they are to develop into a competent military force. Changes will not come overnight and they will not come without greater government support, both in economic and political terms. The Army has long been under-funded by a government that distrusted the potential opposition it presented and preferred to fund the security services. The cumulative impact of a decade of neglect and decline has made the solution to the structural problems in the army a very long and expensive process. In terms of rebuilding the army, the best solution lies in focusing on restructuring, refurbishment and modernisation efforts for a couple of brigades at a time. They cannot afford to swap out their equipment base, rather they must focus on salvaging as much of this equipment as is needed and upgrade it where possible.

The Army remains however a lower priority compared to both the Navy and the Air Force, which have both benefited from the country's ties with the US and NATO. American and NATO planners have seemed hesitant to direct any tangible support to the army for fear of granting a new offensive capability that could tempt Azerbaijan to restart hostilities with neighbouring Armenia. Thus, the Azerbaijani Army has begun to look beyond the US and NATO for potential partners, and increasingly looked towards Russia as provider for the army given its serious need for Soviet weapons and spare parts stocks. The army has also tried to leverage its traditional relationship with the Turkish Army, although the decline in close ties between Baku and Ankara has so far led to only disappointing results. Over the past three years, the army has therefore also looked to expanding its ties with Pakistan, Iran and other former Soviet states, such as Ukraine, Slovakia and even Belarus.

[Izzy1]

Jane's World Air Forces Assessment: 23 October 2006

Assessment

Although the exact operational readiness of the Azerbaijani Air Force is unknown, it is clear that its operational capabilities are limited. The small Azeri air and air defence forces have been severely restricted in their flight time and training by a chronic lack of spare parts and adequate maintenance, and funding constraints. As a result, the majority of the force's fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft are not operational, operating at less than full capability, or in storage. The air force's training and maintenance problems are exacerbated by the number of different types of air-frames in the inventory, many in small numbers, as well as the advanced age of many of these air-frames. Many of these aircraft are either close to or past their expected flying life, especially without the necessary life extension overhaul and system upgrades.

The age of most of the Azerbaijani aircraft arsenal; their outdated avionics, weapons systems, target acquisition and targeting systems; and the limited aircrew training severely limit the roles these aircraft can effectively perform. The fighter squadron cannot prevent incursions by any modern air force, but in their local environment they can provide limited air cover for ground or naval operations. Close air support is the air force's principal mission.

The Su-25, similar to the US A-10, was designed for close air support, but available munitions are essentially dumb bombs and guided rockets, as they do not have any precision-guided munitions. Moreover, the air-frames are not configured for such systems, the on-board targeting systems can not handle such systems, and the pilots are not trained for their employment. The Air Force received an additional six SU-25 combat aircraft from Georgia in 2002, suggesting efforts aimed at rebuilding air capabilities.

Efforts to enhance capabilities

The air force has been trying to replace their mix of ground attack aircraft for several years, but funding constraints have so far restricted any acquisition. The backbone of the country's strategic air defence brigade is built upon 20- and 30- year old SAM systems that have only marginal utility against modern air forces, but do provide a limited defence against possible regional aggression. Moreover, to link all of this together they need a secure and efficient air/air defence command and control system, similar to that supporting the Soviet legacy system but upgraded.

Over the longer term, the difficulty in even the most basic flight readiness and a sharp reduction of monthly training time for pilots have further led to a steep fall in pilot and crew readiness. The net result of these factors is that Azerbaijani air power exists largely on paper, with any practical application of its air assets seriously limited and virtually nonexistent.

Despite recent efforts to acquire spare parts from Russia, a serious shortfall in avionics and other key technological equipment remains a serious challenge. Additionally, all training programmes to date have centred on the army and navy, with the air force forced to go without any serious NATO, Western or Turkish assistance. This crisis has also fostered a decline in importance of the air force and has relegated this branch to the lowest priority in terms of Azerbaijani defence policy.

From the looks of things, a long way to go before any NATO aspirations.

[Soner1980]

The Armenians don't have any economy in comparison to the Azerbaijani economy. But The Armenian Air Force does not have own MiG-29's. The Gyumri is given to Russia for a MiG-29 squadron to protect their asses against Turkish invasion or from the east. The Azeri Air Force is good I think (see wikipedia) but there are many rumors on it. Again, the Azeri air force is mightier than the Armenian air force. But I don't want to compare with Armenia because than we get a discussion Armenia vs. Azerbaijan again what mostly get terrorized here. (this site)

Originally Posted by contedicavour

Comparisons with Armenia are very interesting : Armenia has 30 MIG29 and 15 SU25; the army has 100+ T72, 225 artillery pieces > or = 122mm calibre in Armenia and another 300 in Karabach region, 300+ AIFVs, etc.

What is also interesting is the Russian army base in Armenia, with S300 SAMs and another 30 MIG29s...

cheers

[Soner1980]

I have read the two texts and I think that (if this texts is true) Azeri Armed Forces face a big problem. The Armef Forces can only decimate any attack from Armenia (if they also dare to attack) or Georgia (latter is not logical bacause of the oil pipline, and good relations).

The text also describes that the Turkish army failed any upgrade or training process, wrong. Because Turkey has many times repeated that the Azeri army is now ready to plan their own military excercise. Also, they have to learn to stand in their own shoes without any help. Turkey now has a small group to give some advice, a platoon size unit for the land forces. The Air force pilots are training in the US, Turkey and in Russia. The Navy is trained by the US navy and the Army by Germany, Russia, Turkey and the US.

Also Azerbaijan spends more money ($650-$900 mln.) than then ever and especially after 2003, the Azeri defence has been increased over $200 mln. what is almost the 3 double in few years. The late 1990's was a poor time for the Azeri army, the beginning was the beginning of the Azeri army and today the army has begun to do something (tough small) to upgrade their obsolete equipped army.

[contedicavour]

Originally Posted by Soner1980

The Armenians don't have any economy in comparison to the Azerbaijani economy. But The Armenian Air Force does not have own MiG-29's. The Gyumri is given to Russia for a MiG-29 squadron to protect their asses against Turkish invasion or from the east. The Azeri Air Force is good I think (see wikipedia) but there are many rumors on it. Again, the Azeri air force is mightier than the Armenian air force. But I don't want to compare with Armenia because than we get a discussion Armenia vs. Azerbaijan again what mostly get terrorized here. (this site)

Well if you use wikipedia for Azeri air force, why not rely on wikipedia for Armenian air force... it says that they do have 30 Fulcrums, besides the 30 flown by the Russian air force.
Anyway, back to the topic, have any Azeri troops operated in overseas peacekeeping missions ? that's always a good opportunity to see the level of efficiency of troops.

cheers