Experts warn against outcomes of Armenia's purchase of Iskander missile systems
By Rashid Shirinov
The recent acquisition of Iskander missile systems by Armenia caused new wave of debates around the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. A number of experts condemned this purchase, noting that it escalates already fragile situation in the region. Some of them doubted the efficiency of the purchased weapon.
Possession of Iskander missiles by Armenia creates a dangerous situation in the South Caucasus, the President of Jamestown Foundation Glen Howard believes.
“The acquisition of Iskander missiles by Armenia could become the impetus for even greater arms race in the region,” he noted at the conference “Azerbaijan’s role on global and regional arena: Realities and Prospects” in Baku on October 7.
It is obvious that Azerbaijan needs to protect itself, and the country will probablytake a step in this regard, the president of the foundation assumed.
Howard mentioned that the dynamically developing Azerbaijan closely cooperates in the defense sector with many countries, and therefore could resort to various options.
“Azerbaijan continues to develop, the country managed to build a strong army,” Howard said, adding that the strength of the Azerbaijani army was evidently demonstrated in the April clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The topic of Iskander missiles was also addressed by Russian military expert Oleg Kuznetsov. Missile systems Iskander-E demonstrated at the military parade in Yerevan constitute a modification with a reduced missile range, he said to journalists in Baku on October 6.
The expert noted that the Iskander complexes acquired by Armenia cannot damage oil infrastructure in the territory of Azerbaijan, as well as cannot reach the deep rear of the country.
“The military potential of Azerbaijan at least five times exceeds the capabilities of Armenia,” said Kuznetsov, stressing that the use of Russian-made Iskander by Armenia will inevitably result in its defeat in case of full-scale hostilities.
Furthermore, the use of such a serious weapon by Armenia will be regarded as an obvious act of declaring war, that may trigger Azerbaijan, leading to the collapse of Armenia, Kuznetsov assumed.
As for the prospects of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the expert noted that Azerbaijan through political reforms creates the preconditions for the return of the occupied territories. “In the meantime, Armenia is going through another political transformation, moving from the Western influence to Russia.”
Some details of Armenian armament were also mentioned by the coordinator of programs "The Union of informed citizens" Daniel Ioannisyan. He noted that a considerable part of weapons Armenia purchased is older than 30 years. “There are weapons from the 60s,” he said in an interview to Aravot.am.
As for the considerably new armament purchased by Armenia, it turns out that its significant part cannot be used in Nagorno-Karabakh. Ioannisyan cited the example that during the April escalation Armenia did not use Tornado systems because “there was no threat against the Armenian borders, and the conflict was only on the line of contact.”
He also considered unfounded the enthusiasm about the Iskanders in the Armenian society. “I am pretty sure that the Iskanders are not designed for use in Karabakh, because in order to hit Baku with Iskander, they need to deliver it in Khankendi or Askeran cities."
Thus, new weapons of Armenia seem not to bring much strength into the country’s poor armament.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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