Army of Armenia. Description and history of occurrence

The Armenian Army is the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia. The army was established on January 28, 1992, a few months after independence was proclaimed in the republic. When it was created, first of all, such a circumstance was taken into account as the geographical position of Nagorno-Karabakh, whose forces needed support in the struggle against Azerbaijan's claims. However, a longer-term goal was also set for the development of an independent military policy.

Over time, it developed into a small, but perfectly balanced, combat-ready defense force. As it was noted in the military department, at the planning stage the Armenian army should become self-sufficient (defensively) in order to be able to repel attacks from Azerbaijan and Turkey on its own.

Radical nationalists advocated a more aggressive position, similar to the Israeli, arguing that the Armenian land is surrounded by enemies and the armed forces must be highly prepared to be able to deal crushing blows at the enemy within a few days. Both concepts had similarities in that the Armenian army should be small, maneuverable, and have superbly trained units. However, it turned out that in the active military service there were initially 30,000 soldiers, and by 1994 their number had reached 35,000.

Formation of the Armenian army took place in three stages. In February 1988, with the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenian militants formed units to fight Azerbaijani forces in the region. At the second stage, when immediately after the proclamation of independence Armenia was drawn into the Nagorno-Karabakh war, the army of Armenia was created - as an urgent necessity. Vazgen Z. Sargsyan was appointed the Minister of Defense, after his death in the terrorist act, he became Vazgen Mikaelovich Manukyan, deputy - Norat Grigorievich Ter-Grigoryants.

After the end of the war, Armenia entered the third stage of army reform, which continues to this day. Most of the top officers are people who served in the army of the USSR. In accordance with agreements with their strategic allies, more than 1,500 officers were sent from the republic to study in Russia and Greece. By 1994, the Defense Ministry had set the task, according to which the number of servicemen should have increased to 50,000 people, and in the situation of wartime they would be supplemented with a call-up reserve.

It was necessary to strengthen control over the historical region of Zangezur, located on the border with Iran. The program to increase defense forces also included the construction of new military facilities, especially on the Iran-Armenian border, a new bridge and a gas pipeline to Iran. During the war, the Armenian military constantly remained in a state of high alert, strengthening the defense in the Zangezur region, in front of the Azerbaijani exclave Nakhichevan (in the west).

The Armenian army is organized roughly the same way as the armed forces of other countries that were part of the USSR. But there is an exception: the list of army units is somewhat reduced. Today, Armenia is successfully implementing the government plan to modernize its armed forces with a modern weapon. The country remains in the most cordial relations with the Russian Federation, which gives it the right to purchase Russian weapons at reduced prices, if not free of charge.