On December 4, at 10:20 pm, communication was lost between the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and an Su-25 fighter jet, which was conducting a daily test.
The Ministry of Defense reported that the plane took off from Gyumri airport at 10:06 pm.
Press Secretary for the Ministry of Defense, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, said that debris from the plane was found in the mountains of Maralik region in northwest of Armenia.
“The pilots, Lieutenant Colonel Armen Babayan and Major Movses Manukyan, are killed. We express our condolences,” wrote Hovhannisyan on his Facebook page.
An investigation is underway to clarify the cause of the incident.
Designed to provide close air support, the Sukhoi Su-25 is a single-seat twin-engine ground attack aircraft that entered series p
roduction in 1978. The Su-25UBK is a two-seat trainer version of the aircraft.