Azerbaijani Army's status as the most powerful in the S. Caucasus plays an important role
Experts Maisaya and Parfyonov on Caliber.Az

INTERVIEWS  10 January 2023 - 13:40

Azerbaijan ranked 57th among 145 countries in terms of military power in 2023, the Global Firepower portal said. According to the rating, Georgia ranked 85th, while Armenia is 94th.

The ranking is based on 60 individual factors to determine the performance of a country. When compiling the Global Firepower ranking, such factors as manpower, airpower, land strength, naval strength, logistics, and financials were taken into consideration. An important place is given to the size of the military budget, external debt, foreign exchange reserves of a country, and its purchasing power.

According to the rating, 1.5% of Azerbaijan's population reaches the conscription age. In total, the military makes up 3.7% of the population, of which 0.6% are active servicemen. According to the rating, the total number of military planes in Azerbaijan is 148, 17 fighters, 11 attack aircraft, 2 transport aircraft, 32 training aircraft and 86 helicopters. It is also noted that Azerbaijan has 920 tanks, 167 self-propelled artillery pieces, 319 towed artillery pieces, and 323 MLRS pieces. Azerbaijan also has 4 submarines and 13 patrol boats.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan ranked 63rd as of 2022. Today, according to the rating, the US Army ranks 1st, Turkey holds 11th place and Ukraine is 15th.

But what does such an indicator as military power give the states? Apparently, this must somehow influence the political weight of the countries in the international arena. Is there a direct correlation? In other words, what is the significance of Azerbaijan's place among 145 countries?

Renowned foreign experts have shared their thoughts on this issue with Caliber.Az.

Doctor of Military and Political Sciences Vakhtang Maisaya (Georgia) notes that the facts cited show that Azerbaijan is in first place in terms of military capabilities among the Caucasus countries.

"I have to say that this status plays an important role, first of all, in world politics and international security since this is a matter of state prestige. Secondly, it implies that such a state has a chance to grow into a hegemon at the regional, pan-regional, or even global level. Third, this position also implies a strong geoeconomic potential, when a state can use its military power to ensure the implementation of large economic projects. This directly concerns Azerbaijan, because it is located in an important geo-economic region - the Caucasus-Caspian region. And it plays a significant role in world energy policy," the expert says.

Another important aspect of this place in the ranking is the prospect of the development of new arms markets by Azerbaijan, he believes.

"There is an opportunity to cooperate in arms production with those countries that have great potential for the development of military-industrial complex (MIC). Azerbaijan is already successfully cooperating with influential states in the global arms market. These are Israel and Türkiye. Azerbaijan has very good prospects here. In fact, these are the main criteria that explain the advancement of Azerbaijan in the rating," Maisaya said.

In turn, Gleb Parfyonov, head of the security department of the Doctrine Centre for Political Studies (Kyiv), recalled that Azerbaijan had shown during the 44-day war that it had a high-tech army capable of solving a wide range of problems.

"And even to confront Iran. Hence we can conclude that it is not so much the amount of equipment that is crucial, but the ability to use it and the moral core of the soldiers. Without these things, no matter what place a state occupies in the military power rating, it would lose," the expert says.

Basically, such ratings are based on calculations of the total military power of a state. But as practice shows, the rating does not play a major role. For example, Russia is the second largest army in the world, but it was beaten by the army which is much lower in its rating, Parfyonov noted.

Therefore, in his opinion, these ratings will still be revised in the future, so as not to fall into such a trap.

"After all, the calculation of military power does affect the relations of states. Russia used to be feared, but not anymore," Parfyonov concluded.

Caliber.Az