The role of Azerbaijani Air Force drones in the war with Armenia by @BabakTaghvaee1

From hunting Armenian tanks to violating Iranian airspace (english translation from Farsi https://twitter.com/indypersian/status/1313819042801684480 )

The role of Azerbaijani Air Force drones in the war with Armenia

Babak Taghvaei Military and Defense Expert  October 7, 2020

Armenian Ministry of Defense Twitter images of the wreckage of a Harop suicide drone (bottom two) and a relatively healthy Sky Strike Azerbaijan drone (top)
After months of planning, including the purchase and receipt of Syrian military weapons and militias from Turkey, as well as joint exercises with the Turkish army, the Azerbaijani Army Air and Land Forces launched a ground offensive after the shelling of the Artsakh or Qarabagh regions on the morning of October 27, 2016. The area began at 8 a.m. that day, sparking renewed fighting in the area.
Despite the military conflict that took place in the region on July 22 this year, when the Azerbaijani army was forced to retreat after heavy casualties were possible, this time the Azerbaijani army succeeded in using Syrian militias, drones and electronic warfare systems received from Turkey. He won victories over the Armenian army and took control of a number of villages in the disputed area.
The reconnaissance, combat and suicide drones of the Azerbaijani Air Force have become the trump card of the country in the Battle of Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite having a much larger number of interceptor, bomber and close air support fighter jets, as well as attack helicopters, the Air Force has used more types of attack and suicide drones made by Turkey and Israel in this war compared to the Armenian Air Force and has suffered significant casualties. Has entered the Armenian army.
Comparison of Armenian and Azerbaijani fighter fleets

According to satellite images and unclassified information from the archives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Azerbaijani Air Force currently has a fleet of 63 fighter jets, of which 33 are fully operational and another 8 are undergoing periodic repairs in Kordamir and Nasusnaya, 13 were awaiting major repairs and nine are in storage.

A total of 54 fighter jets are in the force's operational cycle, including 13 MiG-29S interceptors and three of their training models, the MiG-29UB, stationed at the Nasosnaya base west of Baku to protect privacy. The country's air force, along with two units of the S-300 PMU-2 long-range missile defense system and other defense systems of the Azerbaijani Air Defense Force, are in charge.
In addition to the former MiG-29 fighters of the Ukrainian Air Force, which have been in service with the Air Force since 2008, the Azerbaijani Air Force has 38 Sukhoi 25 air support fighters in three basic models: BMW (upgraded by the manufacturer in Georgia) and prototype. There are two training cabinets located at Kordamir and Daliar air bases.

Currently, 21 of the 38 Sukhoi 25 aircraft of the Azerbaijani Air Force have been upgraded by the Tbilisi Aircraft Company and are BMW models. The pilots of these fighters have participated in annual joint exercises with the fighter squadrons of the Turkish Air Force.
While the Azerbaijani Air Force has 63 fighter jets, 33 of which are operational, the Armenian Air Force has 19 fighter jets, including 15 Sukhoi 25 in two models: Kay (export) and BoB (combat training), along with four all-purpose Berthi Sukhoi fighter jets. 30SM is in the service of its 121st Mixed Assault Squadron at the Gyumri base.

Of the 19 fighter jets, only two Sukhoi 25 landed. It should be noted that on October 29, 2016, a Turkish Air Force F-16C fighter piloted an E-7T early warning aircraft crashed before reaching the battle area to provide close air support fire, and the pilot It was killed. A day later, the Turkish government denied its role in downing the fighter.

Comparison of the fleet of attack helicopters of Armenia and Azerbaijan
The Mi-24 heavy attack helicopters are used by the air forces of both countries. While the Armenian Air Force has only 11 Mi-24s, including eight Mi-24P assault rifles equipped with a double-barreled cannon and a 30mm submachine gun on the left side of its fuselage and capable of using anti-tank missiles, two May artillery surveillance samples are available. -24K and an example of a biological and chemical attack detection, the May-24KKH.

In contrast, the Azerbaijani Air Force has 53 Mi-24 heavy attack helicopters, of which at least 32 are operational at their mother base, Qala (18) in eastern Baku, as well as Bilqan airports (6), according to satellite imagery. , Daliar (4 cases) and Nakhchivan (4 cases) were stationed in September 2016.

Among these helicopters are six MG 24 G-4s upgraded by Denel Aircraft of South Africa, as well as 24 M35 35s purchased from Russia in xxxx and delivered in xxxx to xxx. These 30 helicopters are capable of night operations, while all 11 aircraft of the 24th Air Force of Armenia do not have such capability.

On the first day of its attack on the Artsakh region or the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Azerbaijani Air Force lost a Mi-24 helicopter of an unknown model, the pilots of which were captured by the Armenian army. After that, these helicopters were no longer used in the front line to hunt down Armenian tanks, and they were used only to provide close air support fire in the days after 9 October.
The important role of Israeli-made suicide drones in the war with Armenia

Following the improvement of political relations between Azerbaijan and Israel in 2007, the country began to purchase a variety of weapons and military equipment from Israel, including Sheldag and other patrol vessels, Spike anti-tank missiles, short-range and medium-range missile defense systems Barak 8, 9 ER and LR, as well as a variety of upgrade kits for the country's T-72 tanks.
In addition to these equipment and weapons, a significant number of reconnaissance and suicide drones were purchased from Israel. The first are four Airstar reconnaissance drones and 10 Hermes-450 aircraft.

In xxxx, 5 Heron drones and 5 Sarcher aircraft were purchased from Israel in 1390 as part of a $ 1.6 billion arms purchase contract and delivered in xxxx. Finally, 10 Orbiter-3 drones were purchased from Israel as the newest reconnaissance drones in 2016.
In addition to the widespread purchase of reconnaissance drones, Azerbaijan purchased a large number of suicide drones from Israel, which in the current war play an important role in the destruction of Armenian armored vehicles, vehicles and weapons in the Artsakh region or Nagorno-Karabakh.

In 2015, 50 Harop suicide drones were purchased, and in 2016, 100 Orbiter-1K suicide bombers and 100 Sky Strikers were purchased from Israel, which were delivered to the Azerbaijani army by 2009. Harop with 23 kg warheads and a maximum range of 1000 km and a flight duration of up to 6 hours have been used against strategic targets such as important facilities, observation posts and ammunition depots of the Armenian Army, while the Orbiter-1K with a warhead of only 1 to 3 kg, duration 2 A half-range of only 100 km is used to destroy non-armored vehicles and Armenian army personnel in the areas near the battlefield, while Sky Striker with a 5 to 10 kg warhead is used to destroy armored equipment such as tanks, as well as self-propelled cannons, Uza defense systems and ... Used.
It should be noted that with the help of Turkey, at least 40 of the 61 Antonov 2T light aircraft and transport aircraft of the Azerbaijani Air Force, 50-70 years old, are equipped with heavy reconnaissance / suicide drones to attack Armenian army positions and also identify the location of defense sites. The army's air defenses were used near the front lines, and in the first week of the war, more than 15 of them were shot down by the Armenian defense.

Turkey's T-2 Bayraktar drones, Azerbaijan's trump card in the war with Armenia

Due to the inability of its fighter jets and attack helicopters to fly over areas under the control of the Armenian Army due to the danger of short-range defense systems of the Azerbaijani Air Defense Force, Azerbaijan, in addition to using suicide drones to attack army positions Armenia in the Artsakh region or Nagorno-Karabakh and its environs from Bayraktar or unarmed TB2 attack drones recently delivered to the Azerbaijani Air Force to attack various targets such as infantry, personnel carriers, armored vehicles, main battlefield tanks, BMW-21G rocket launchers , Has used D-30 traction cannons, self-propelled cannons, OZ-AKM defense systems, etc.
In addition to the inability of the Armenian Air Force to fly its fighter jets and attack helicopters, it lacks any combat or suicide drones.

Prior to Azerbaijan's official invasion of the Artsakh region or Nagorno-Karabakh, two Turkish Air Force Airbus A400M heavy transport aircraft dropped twelve of these T-2 high-powered suicide drones from Kerlu Airport in Tekirdag Province, Turkey, to the Yolakh UAV base in Azerbaijan.

Subsequently, in order to counter the threat of these drones, Russia decided to transfer and deliver at least four Replant-1 anti-drone systems to the Armenian army. The systems were flown to Yerevan in the hours before the start of the war using a Russian Air Force Antonov 124-100 heavy transport aircraft, but were unable to deal effectively with the drones.

It should be noted that two reconnaissance drones of the Azerbaijani Air Force after infiltrating the airspace of Iran, first on Tuesday, October 29 in Malekan city located southeast of Lake Urmia and then on October 30 over the Aslanduz region by the Air Force and The Revolutionary Guards Air Force was shot down using a missile launcher, as well as a short-range missile defense system transferred to the Aslan Doz border area.

Although the Armenian Air Defense Forces have shot down at least 30 suicide and offensive UAVs of the Azerbaijani Air Force in the battle zone, the Armenian Army has suffered heavy casualties from these UAVs, and eventually a number of small villages in the Artsakh or Karabakh region. They have come under the control of the Azerbaijani army. Undoubtedly, without the presence of these drones, the Azerbaijani army would not have been able to achieve such victories on the battlefield.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the Persian Independent.