Azerbaijani troops accomplish colossal military drills
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
Azerbaijan held large-scale military drills from September 13 to
20 under a plan approved by the Azerbaijani President, the Supreme
Commander-in-Chi
Exercises turned out into one of the largest drills in the country's military history as it involved all types of the armed forces to test their combat capabilities.
The military forces of Turkey - Azerbaijan's closest ally and neighbor - also took part in the drills.
The first stage of the drills was aimed to test the interaction and coordination of all types of armed forces, including Intelligence Forces, Special Task Forces, Air Forces, as well as Anti-Aircraft Forces.
The Land Forces accomplished organizing and conducting offensive operations in various circumstances, along with highlands throughout the second stage of the exercises. At the same time, they carried out operations to land tactical airborne, to use raid and vanguard units, as well as to accomplish the missions assigned to them.
About ten thousands of members of the Reserve Forces attended
the drills, which targeted to examine the level of task completion
on mobilization of the military units, under the personal
instructions by the Supreme Commander-in-Chi
As part of the drills, soldiers carried out practical military trainings on using different types of weapons, moral and psychological readiness and coordination of combat actions.
The third stage of the drills covered the combat firings at the training centers and firing fields of the motor rifle and tank units, as well as examinations of missile launch and bombings from missile and artillery equipment, anti-aircraft guns and combat jets and helicopters.
Meanwhile, over 30 jets of Azerbaijani and Turkish Air Forces, in particular, the fighters MIG-24, F-16 military transport aircraft Su-25, C-130 Herkules, helicopter gunships Mi-24, AH-1W Super Cobra and military transport helicopter Mi-17 and Sikorski UH-60 conducted special tasks as part of the large-scale trainings.
Nearly 30,000 soldiers and officers, over 250 armored vehicles, 150 missile and artillery equipment, furthermore, subunits of anti-aircraft forces armed with modern air defense systems attended the colossal week-long drills.
Azerbaijan is the top country in the South Caucasus for its military expenditure. The country's current military budget is $3.8 billion which is nearly $57 million more than the last year's budget.
Global Firepower Index 2014 ranked Azerbaijan 50th among 106 countries by noting that the country can call upon hundreds of thousands of reserves.
Today's modernized and well-equipped army of Azerbaijan is reported as the strongest in the South Caucasus and one of the strongest among the post-Soviet countries.