Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani military official has stated that Azerbaijan surpasses Armenia by its military might.

Lieutenant-General Ramiz Tairov, deputy Azerbaijani defense minister and commander of the Azerbaijani Air Forces, in an interview with local media refuted statements by the Armenia defense minister over the possibility that the Armenian armed forces could strike oil and gas pipelines in Azerbaijan.

“It's just a political statement for the purpose of intimidation. But we know what means they possess. For example, they have tactical missile systems of the old generation of Tochka U [U Point] and Elbrus with a maximum range of 280 kilometers. We know the territory of their location. If they come to the firing position, we can calculate where they are located. We have the means for their immediate destruction,” Tairov said.

He went on to say that the capabilities of Azerbaijani air defense forces are sufficient to destroy these missiles without difficulty if the enemy would dare use them.

Today, the Azerbaijani Army is one of the strongest, most highly-disciplined armies in the world and the leading in the region. It is equipped with new high-quality weapons made by domestic and foreign military-industrial systems.

Tairov further noted that before Azerbaijani troops shot down an Armenian helicopter in November last year, the enemy had 12 Mi-24 helicopters and now possesses only 11 helicopters.

He stressed after that event, no combat helicopters were observed flying in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

Two Armenian Mi-24 attack helicopters approached and flew attack maneuvers in the immediate vicinity of the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces stationed in the nearby village of Kengerly in the occupied Aghdam region on November 12. One of the helicopters was shot down over the very same occupied territory.

“At a time when the helicopter was shot down, the Armenians carried out military exercises. After that Armenians stopped flying, they were afraid to fly. Since then, no flights of combat helicopters in the territory of Karabakh were registered,” Tairov said.

The Azerbaijani armed forces, which is today considered the most modern army in the Caucasus, consists of the Air Force, Air Defense Forces, the Navy, and the Land Forces.

The armed forces are continually modernized and equipped with newest and strongest weaponry as the revenue of Azerbaijan increases.

Azerbaijan's military expenditure has developed rapidly in recent years, and in a short time, the military budget has increased more than 20 times.

Azerbaijan’s military budget for 2015 is $5 billion, which is considerably more than last year's $3.8 billion in military expenditures. The country's military budget exceeds the overall state budget of occupant Armenia by $2 billion.

The development of the military is under special focus in Azerbaijan, a country that remains in a state of war with Armenia.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that had caused a lengthy war in the early 1990s.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.

--

Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz