Shushan Stepanyan, #CivilNetCheck
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev regularly complains in his interviews, raising the alarm about Armenia’s continuous acquisition of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of weapons. At the same time, Azerbaijan continues to arm itself and sign new contracts for the purchase of weapons.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recently said in an interview with France 24 that Azerbaijan is preparing for a new war. The country is spending billions on acquiring weapons.
#CivilNetCheck, using open sources, tried to uncover what weapons Armenia and Azerbaijan have acquired since the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, and how much money they have allocated for defense expenses.
Military expenditures by Armenia and Azerbaijan since the war
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan’s defense expenditures increased after 2020.
In 2020, Armenia allocated $785 million for defense. In 2021, those expenses were about $663 million, in 2022,expenses hit $1.09 billion, and in 2023, military expenses sharply increased, reaching $1.3 billion. In 2024, Armenia plans to allocate $1.4 billion.
Azerbaijan has also significantly increased its military budget. In 2020, Azerbaijan’s defense expenditures amounted to $2.2 billion, in 2021, $2.7 billion, in 2022 $2.8 billion, and in 2023 they continued to grow, amounting to $3.3 billion.
In 2024, Azerbaijan increased the military budget even more, bringing it to $3.7 billion.

During this period, Pashinyan and other officials repeatedly talked about the diversification of relations in the security sector.
Recently, Armenia has started actively cooperating with India, France, Greece, and Cyprus.
As for Azerbaijan, in 2021, it signed the Shushi Declaration with Turkey, which provides for cooperation if any country is threatened by a third state. Azerbaijan also signed bilateral military cooperation agreements with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Serbia.
In addition to buying weapons, Azerbaijan is increasing the volume of its military products. In 2024, Azerbaijan plans to allocate $588 million to military production.
Armenia also continuously allocates money for the development of the military industry, but the actual expenses are not fulfilled.
What weapons has Armenia acquired since 2020?
Russia
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2022, 4 Mi-8 helicopters were delivered from Russia to Armenia. Armenia ordered the helicopters in 2020. Previously, Moscow was the main supplier of weapons to Yerevan.

In recent years, various Armenian officials have repeatedly complained that Russia does not supply arms to Armenia in return for the money paid.
Recently, however, Gagik Melkonyan, a lawmaker from the Civil Contract party, told Radio Azatutyun, RFE/RL’s Armenian service, that a batch of Russian weapons is already in Armenia. It is not known what kind of weapons were sent to Armenia.
France
In November 2023, 24 Bastion armored vehicles were delivered to Armenia through Georgia. A French government report stated that the armed forces of Armenia will receive about 50 Bastion armored vehicles in total. In other words, 26 more have to be delivered.

On February 24, the French newspaper Le Figaro wrote that France will deliver three GM 200 radars and night vision devices to Armenia.
GM 200 is a medium-range multi-target radar. The GM 200 detects, identifies, and tracks a target in all types of environments and transmits information to ground-based air defense to engage the target.
This can help Armenia fight against small drones, which, as the 2020 war showed, is one of the Armenian military’s most vulnerable areas. One of the advantages of the radar is that it can be transported on a truck and deployed within 15 minutes.

India
Apart from France, Armenia has activated military cooperation with India.
According to SIPRI, four Swathi radars were delivered to Armenia from India in 2021, which Armenia ordered in the first quarter of 2020.
The Swathi radar is designed to detect and track artillery shells and missiles launched by the enemy, as well as to determine the location of their launch.

In September 2022, the Indian newspaper The Economic Times wrote that India will supply arms and ammunition worth $244 million to Armenia, in particular, Pinaka rocket launchers, anti-tank weapons, and other ammunition.

In April 2023, it became clear from the list of exported weapons of India’s Defense Ministry that Armenia ordered MArG 155 self-propelled howitzers.

In September 2023, the president of the Indian company Bharat Forge, Baba Kalyani, announced that 155 mm ATAGS howitzers were delivered to Armenia. The six towed howitzers delivered were said to be the first batch. Indian sources claim that Armenia has ordered a total of 90 ATAGS howitzers. According to the contract, the remaining 84 ATAGS howitzers will be supplied in stages over three years.
The ATAGS system can be used to fire remote-controlled munitions with high accuracy and long range.

The Eurasia Times wrote that in 2023, Armenia signed a contract to buy a Zen anti-drone system developed in India. According to the outlet’s source, the contract’s price was $41.5 million. They mentioned that the contract provides not only for the supply of anti-drone systems, but also for the training of operators.
The anti-drone system works on drone detection, classification, tracking, camera sensors and threat neutralization.

India’s ETV Bharat Media wrote in 2023 that India signed a deal with Armenia on the supply of Akash anti-aircraft missile systems. On March 9 Indian sources wrote that India is preparing to deliver the first batch of the Akash air defense system to Armenia at the beginning of 2025.
The Akash missile system can target aircraft at a distance of up to 45 kilometers. It can neutralize aerial targets such as fighter aircrafts, cruise missiles, and air-to-surface missiles.

What weapons has Azerbaijan acquired since 2020?
Turkey
According to SIPRI, 20 Bayraktar TB-2 unmanned aerial vehicles, which Azerbaijan bought from Turkey in 2020, were delivered in 2023.
On February 9, Aliyev’s office reported that the president had visited an air force base to view the newly acquired Turkish AKINCI drones.
Seljuk Bayraktar, executive director of the Baykar company, which produces those weapons, spoke about the purchase of AKINCI attack drones by Azerbaijan back in 2022.
In April 2023, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Baykar company and Azerbaijan on the joint production of drones.
In the 2020 war, Azerbaijan widely used the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 ATSs, both for aerial reconnaissance and precision strikes. Compared to the Bayraktar TB2, the AKINCI can fly higher, and the range of missiles and ammunition used is wider.

Israel
After the 2020 war, Azerbaijan continues to buy a large amount of weapons from Israel. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an investigation in March 2023, which stated that from 2016 to 2023, Azerbaijani cargo planes made at least 92 landings at Israel’s Ovda Air Base. The newspaper notes that Ovda is the only airport in Israel through which explosives are imported to or exported from the country.
In November 2023, the Defense Industry Europe website wrote that Azerbaijan will buy additional anti-aircraft defense equipment from Israel. The amount of the transaction would be $1.2 billion. According to the website, Azerbaijan is buying the Barak MX air defense system from Israel. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry also informed about the testing of the system.

In July 2023, the Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems published information about signing a $150 million contract with Azerbaijan. Under the contract, the company undertakes to supply Precise and Universal Launching Systems rocket launchers, and precision-guided long-range missile packages.
PULS missiles have a range of up to 300 kilometers and have several types of missiles.

In March, the Azerbaijani media, referring to the Israeli media, wrote that Azerbaijan bought a Sky Dew aerostat from Israel. It can detect self-propelled guns, launched missiles, UAVs, etc. at a distance of up to 250 kilometers. The acquisition of Sky Dew, however, is not confirmed.

Italy
In June 2023, the Italian military company Leonardo issued a press release announcing that a contract had been signed with Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, according to which it would sell two C-27J military transport aircraft. The organization’s press release also stated that Azerbaijan and Italy are expanding cooperation not only in the energy field, but also in the defense industry. It should also be noted that Italy is one of the largest buyers of oil from Azerbaijan in Europe.

Pakistan
According to the report of the Pakistani publication Air Operation Syndicate published in February, Azerbaijan will buy JF-17C Block III modern fighters from Pakistan.

The report states that they will replace the Russian MiG-29s in Azerbaijan’s arsenal. However, this information is not confirmed either. The purchase of these fighters by Azerbaijan has been regularly discussed for more than 10 years.
Serbia
In 2024, the World Defense News website wrote that in February, Azerbaijan completed negotiations with Serbia and signed a $339 million contract for the purchase of artillery systems. It is noted that according to the contract, Serbia undertakes to deliver 48 units of Nora-B 52NG howitzers.
The self-propelled howitzer fires 155 millimeter caliber NATO standard shells, which are currently not available in Azerbaijan’s arsenal. The howitzer allows them to hit targets located at a great distance.

After the attack on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in September 2023 and the forced deportation of Artsakh citizens, Azerbaijan published data on the weapons and ammunition handed over by Artsakh citizens. On March 14, Aliyev announced that in 2023, $1 billion worth of weapons were confiscated in Karabakh, and in 2020, about $5 billion worth of weapons.
According to the latest data published by Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry on October 2, 2023, as a result of the attack on Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, hundreds of cannons, air defense systems, armored vehicles, vehicles, and a large amount of military equipment were confiscated.

Thus, in recent years, both Armenia and Azerbaijan have increased spending on the military sector. In the past, Armenia mainly bought weapons from Russia, but recently it started buying weapons from India and France as well. Azerbaijan, for its part, despite complaints and warnings about arming Armenia, continues to spend billions of dollars on acquiring offensive weapons.