Russia - Azerbaijan defense contracts

Impressive how we did not hear very much about this until the vehicles all appeared in the country. I guess they can keep a secret if they want to still.

When contract was first announces in 2012 I was a bit skeptical. Modern tanks are not cheap at all and Azerbaijan is a small country.

TR1

Its not without a reason.

Well, we only know the number of T-90, as specified by Viktor in the first post.

TOS-1A is based on T-90 btw.

http://lenta.ru/news/2013/06/18/weapon/

According to "Vedemost", the current contract/deliveries are for :
94 T-90S + option for 94 more.
~100 BMP-3
18 MSTA-S
18 Smerch
6 TOS-1A
+ various command + maintenance vehicles.

+ 18 2S31 Vena. Contract amount is $1 billion.

Also according to the same article, several batteries of Tor-2ME has been purchased by Azerbaijan aswell (in a separate deal).

AttilaA+ 18 2S31 Vena. Contract amount is $1 billion.

Also according to the same article, several batteries of Tor-2ME has been purchased by Azerbaijan aswell (in a separate deal).

Azerbaijan is major client of Russian weaponry - much larger than I tough. 

And now you mention TOR-M2 on top of this serious land firepower and S-300.

A big order from a country which seemed anti Russian on most issues. I would've thought them much closer to Turkey and Nato in general...a bit surprising.

One unconventional explanation I've heard is that they apparently fear a possible conflict with Iran. In case of a wider ME war, one of the scenarios is that the Iranian Army would cross into Azerbaijan to attack oil/gas installations that are run by US companies.

Azerbaijan also bought BUK complex. Haha It seems Azeri are on a rampage to buy everything Russia has.



SAM "Buk" in Azerbaijan

Viktor wrote:Azerbaijan also bought BUK complex. Haha It seems Azeri are on a rampage to buy everything Russia has.

SAM "Buk" in Azerbaijan

Those who want peace must prepare for war.

Viktor wrote:

Azerbaijan is major client of Russian weaponry - much larger than I tough. 

And now you mention TOR-M2 on top of this serious land firepower and S-300.

Also military helicopters, Mi-35M and Mi-17s. And other stuff such as Igla-S (total of 300 launchers and 1500 missiles were delivered in 2011 and 2012).

The amount of military deals for the last few years stands at $4 billion.

Cyberspec wrote:A big order from a country which seemed anti Russian on most issues. I would've thought them much closer to Turkey and Nato in general...a bit surprising.

One unconventional explanation I've heard is that they apparently fear a possible conflict with Iran. In case of a wider ME war, one of the scenarios is that the Iranian Army would cross into Azerbaijan to attack oil/gas installations that are run by US companies.

No Azerbaijan has quite good relations with Russia and always had (other than under their 1st president). Although it maintains its distance ultimately.
They are closer to Turkey but then Turkey is not as an important a country as Russia.
In terms of great powers they are probably closer to Russian than anyone else; but still pretty much neutral.

Some other stuff from the military parade (Russian exports).

AttilaA, if i may ask, did you heard anything about a possible azeri contract for Ka-52s (like anounced at Le Bourget this year, although the media speculated they're for Iraq, which i'm 99% sure they're not)? Also, did you heard of any plans in regards to the air force fighter force, a modern fighter (perhaps MiG or Su?) to supplement/ replace the current MiG-29s? Have your MiG-29s been upgraded or are they still the basic standard?
I concur that the equipment of azeri air defence, land force and helicopter force is very impressive indeed, wonder if the fighter force will match that too in the near future.  

Thanks.

mack8 wrote:AttilaA, if i may ask, did you heard anything about a possible azeri contract for Ka-52s (like anounced at Le Bourget this year, although the media speculated they're for Iraq, which i'm 99% sure they're not)? Also, did you heard of any plans in regards to the air force fighter force, a modern fighter (perhaps MiG or Su?) to supplement/ replace the current MiG-29s? Have your MiG-29s been upgraded or are they still the basic standard?
I concur that the equipment of azeri air defence, land force and helicopter force is very impressive indeed, wonder if the fighter force will match that too in the near future.  

Thanks.

There were some rumours about Ka-52 negotiations earlier, but no information about a contract. However, at Le Bourget Rosoboronexport official said that they were in talks with CIS nations (Azerbaijan being one), so perhaps it adds to earlier rumours (see this: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/paris-russia-in-ka-52-talks-with-cis-nations-arms-agency-reveals-387378/ ). I read somewhere that Iraqis confirmed Ka-52 purchase, how come? Are you certain that the country is not Iraq? In that case, Azerbaijan might be indeed a strong candidate.

Procurement plans of MoD is never made public, but defence minister mentioned new arms deals being prepared between Azerbaijan and Russia this year. Mig-29s are basic model, and I agree about the need for new fighter planes.

Thanks for your reply Attila. If i understand correctly the Ka-52 episode at Le Bourget, apparently a Rosoboronexport official mentioned about a sale (or possible sale?), but without naming the recipient country, the media though named Iraq, which makes little sense as apparently they have Mi-28 on order, and also 6 Mi-35s. I'm pretty sure  that the media is wrong, they probably mixed up references to the iraqi Mi-28s and the Ka-52 sale statement. So imo  based on the above and the earlier rumours you pointed, Azerbaijan as a Ka-52 customer makes  more sense. Gotta wait and see i guess.

IIRC Azeri MiG-29s were modestly upgraded in the Ukraine.

They are a very decent force when you consider what is in the area. New large fighters are an expensive to buy and maintain. Plus Azerbaijan got some massive AD boosts recently, including area defense, so I don't think new fighter force is critical.
Yak-130 would be great for Azerbaijan for dual role training and light attack/counter air.

TR1 wrote:IIRC Azeri MiG-29s were modestly upgraded in the Ukraine.

They are a very decent force when you consider what is in the area. New large fighters are an expensive to buy and maintain. Plus Azerbaijan got some massive AD boosts recently, including area defense, so I don't think new fighter force is critical.
Yak-130 would be great for Azerbaijan for dual role training and light attack/counter air.

Do you happen to know what the upgrade in Ukraine entailed?

This is what I got when I asked the same thing on Keypub:

MiG-29MU1
The N019M1 is the initial version of the radar upgrade by Radionix which UAF MiG-29s are getting - N019M1-MMK (named after the capitals of the countres participating in the project - Moscow, Minsk, Kyiv). The antenna and transmitter block are the same, the rest is new, Baguet type processors, programmable digital processing, R-77 compatibility, drop-in UM522 low noise reciever replacement, 4 target simultaneous tracking, TWS with 10 targets, 30-40% greater range in A-A, target class recognition. A-G modes have DBS, SAR and moving target detection.

https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img203/1041/mig29mu1cockpit.jpg

Cockpit above.

It's a decent upgrade at least on paper, though not quite an SMT.

TR1 wrote:This is what I got when I asked the same thing on Keypub:

MiG-29MU1
The N019M1 is the initial version of the radar upgrade by Radionix which UAF MiG-29s are getting - N019M1-MMK (named after the capitals of the countres participating in the project - Moscow, Minsk, Kyiv). The antenna and transmitter block are the same, the rest is new, Baguet type processors, programmable digital processing, R-77 compatibility, drop-in UM522 low noise reciever replacement, 4 target simultaneous tracking, TWS with 10 targets, 30-40% greater range in A-A, target class recognition. A-G modes have DBS, SAR and moving target detection.

https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img203/1041/mig29mu1cockpit.jpg

Cockpit above.

It's a decent upgrade at least on paper, though not quite an SMT.

Thanks. So the radar is what really got the big attention to. Surprised they stuck with the old antenna rather than going with something new.

Cockpit design is ok I suppose. Surprising Ukraine didn't offer anything that would replace analogue systems with digital.

Zhuk-M is Russian made, and expensive. You can't just stick it in, so Ukraine would not have been able to do the work itself, not easily.
Ukraine applied to these birds the same upgraded as it is buying for its own AF.


Though if the airframes are not exhausted, I think an SMT upgrade would be the best step for Azerbaijan sometime this decade.

Russia-Azerbaijan Arms Trade Worth $4Bln – Aliyev

BAKU, August 13 (RIA Novosti) – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Tuesday that his country’s defense industry collaboration with Russia is worth $4 billion and keeps growing.

After talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aliyev said he hopes that the collaboration, which “is showing a growth trend,” will continue.

Azerbaijan is among the top buyers of Russian arms and other military equipment, which, Aliyev said, is considered the best in the world.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130813/182748495/Russia-Azerbaijan-Arms-Trade-Worth-4Bln--Aliyev.html

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Col. Gen. Safar Abiyev said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in May 2013 that he was satisfied with how the technical and military cooperation with Russia was developing.

"We receive T-90 tanks, heavy flamethrower systems, Msta self-propelled artillery and supply of BTR-82 armored vehicles is about to begin," Abiyev said.

Several new agreements in the military technical cooperation sphere will be signed in 2013, Abiyev said.

"We receive T-90 tanks, heavy flamethrower systems, Msta self-propelled artillery and supply of BTR-82 armored vehicles is about to begin," Abiyev said.

So they are getting MBTs, 152mm SPGs, and TOS-1, plus some APCs.

Nice.

armenia has to dig themself in evenmore... would be interesting tosee how effective the azeris will availeble to use ther all fancy hardwere

I hope it won't come to that.

flamming_python wrote:I hope it won't come to that.

the only logical result to solve the problem, sad but armenia will never give back NkR and the people of NKR will never agree to give up ther homeland, azerbaijan will never accept the lose of its territory or a politcal soultion loosing them, or it will be a endless status quo ( and endlessnes is impossible) or it will be fought out again, and then it depends how much of an edge to the azeris have, how well the armenians are trained and how deep dug in, and will turkey make a move