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Qabil Ashirov

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Azerbaijan continues to reap the fruits of its sophisticated foreign economic and political strategy. The country has intended to modernize its aging military Air Force for a few years. However, it has encountered challenges in this regard. Due to the interference by the Armenian lobby, the main military producers in the world, such as France, the USA, Germany, and so on, were reluctant to sell ordinary weapons, let alone, any military aircraft.

Nevertheless, Azerbaijan has been able to overcome these challenges through its economic and political maneuvers. So, the signing of the deal on the purchasing of C-27J Spartan military transport aircraft with Leonardo s.p.a, the Italian company, can be considered an Azerbaijani success. Even, the statement of Leonardo confirms that the inking of the agreement is a spin-off of closer energy ties between Italy and Azerbaijan.

“Initially linked to the energy sectors, the collaboration between Italy and Azerbaijan is now also extended to defense industry products thanks to the valuable contribution provided by the Italian Ministry of Defense working group,” the company emphasized.

The C-27J Spartan is twin-turboprop tactical transport aircraft that is equipped with new-generation avionics, propulsion, and navigation systems. The aircraft has a loading system compatible with that of the American-made C-130 Hercules. The C-27J fuselage can carry 2.2 meters-tall pallets weighing up to 4,550 kilograms, or 3.65 meters long platforms weighing up to 6,000 kilograms.

The militaries of 17 countries including the USA use different variants of the C-27J aircraft. The plane serves as the primary transportation aircraft for the Italian military forces. The U.S. Air Force extensively used the aircraft during its campaign in Afghanistan.

Speaking to Azernews on the Azerbaijani-Italian military cooperation, and Italy's modern aircrafts, the military expert Heydar Mirza noted that Italian aviation engineering dates back to the years of the First World War. Italy has traditions in this field and has put out magnificent examples in modern aviation. He pointed out that it is not the first deal between Azerbaijan and Italy in military aviation.

“The agreement between Italy and Azerbaijan on the purchase of M-346 jet training aircraft in the field of aviation existed even during the 44-day civil war. The agreement on C-27 J Spartan is a continuation of the previous agreement. The main advantage of these planes is that they will generally increase the agility of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces, especially when time is of the essence, Azerbaijan Army will gain the upper hand with the help of Spartans. Besides, these planes can fly long distances. It is more about strategic flexibility. The increase of such military transport aircraft in our armed forces is quite urgent to respond to new challenges,” the pundit said

As for the importance of this agreement, Heydar Mirza noted that the most important factor is that Italy is an EU member, and cooperation between EU members and Azerbaijan in the military-technical field is ultimately important.

“Because, as we know, Azerbaijan's military partnership with all western countries is not comprehensive. There are political reasons for this. The problem is that EU countries usually do not send their lethal weapons to countries with conflicts. For example, the M-346 is a military aircraft, but it is a fighter jet. The C-27 J Spartan is a military transport aircraft. But still, this is a very serious technique and useful for the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan,” the pundit added.

In conclusion, Heydar Mirza said that with the help of this agreement in itself, the Azerbaijani side is developing its cooperation with the Western European state in the military field, and this will be a good precedent. He pointed out that it is commendable and should be developed.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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