New Russian armored & military equipment for Azerbaijan armed forces.

The army of Azerbaijan has recently received a large batch of new military equipment from Russia, in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation. According a statement from the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan of February 8, 2018, the new Russian military equipment and combat vehicles were used during training exercises.

Russian-made T-90S of Azerbaijan army at military parade in Baku. (Picture source Print Scren video YouTube)

Since its independence in 1991, Azerbaijan has teh goal to increase the capability of its armed forces with new modernization programs and acquisition. Azerbaijan purchases different weaponry from Russia, Israel, Turkey, Pakistan, and Belarus. The country also builds up its own capabilities to produce new weaponry. Following an invitation of the Ministry of Defense Industry and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, each ADEX exhibition is visited by high-ranking international military delegations led by ministers and their deputies, along with the chiefs of law enforcement and security agencies and export organizations.

Since 2014, Azerbaijan alos organizes ADEX, an International Defense Exhibition in Baku that was attended by 558 companies representing 31 countries worldwide. The next defense exhibition in Azerbaijan will take place from the 25 to 27 September 2018.

The draft military budget for 2018, released by the of Azerbaijan Ministry of Finance on October 9, 2017, outlines plans to increase the defense budget to $1.6 billion, representing a 3.7 percent increase over 2017’s allocation of $1.56 billion. The 2018 allocation include $800 million in funding for the Armed Forces, $60 million for national security and $740 million in other defense spending.

According to the SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) arms trade database, since 2010, Azerbaijan has purchase lot of military equipment from Russia including 100 anti-tank missiles AT-14, 2 batteries of S-300 PMU2 surface-to-air defense missile system, 18 2S19 152mm self-propelled howitzer, 18 2S31 Vena 120 mortar carrier tracked vehicle, an undisclosed number off BTR-82A 8x8 armoured vehicle personnel carrier, 118 BMP-3 IFV Infantry Fighting Vehicle, 100 T-90S main battle tank, 18 TOS-1A Flamethrower System, and 2 SA-11 surface-to-air defense systems.

Azerbaijan has also signed numerous defense contracts to strengthen its armed forces and to train its military with Turkey's assistance. Over the last 15 years, Azerbaijan has been preparing its military for possible action against Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.