Russian political scientist talks ineffectiveness of Indian weapons bought by Armenia

REGION  23 January 2024 - 10:55

In a conversation with Russian media, political analyst Dmitry Rodionov commented on Armenia's purchase of Indian and French weapons.

"It is worth noting that the Indian systems have so far only been used by India itself in border conflicts with Pakistan. Some of them have not even entered service with the Indian armed forces and are still being tested. Why buy analogues of Western weapons that have not proven their effectiveness? At the same time, after the signing of the contract, New Delhi has failed to ensure the timely and quality production of some of the promised weapons," he said, Caliber.Az reports.

"Not to mention that Indian weapons are 2-4 times more expensive than Russian ones.

And let's not forget that they are NATO calibres. They are not very compatible with the Russian calibres that still form the basis of the Armenian armed forces' arsenal. Or has Armenia decided, like Azerbaijan, to finally and irrevocably abandon Russian weapons?

And yes, Azerbaijan can afford it, but the process is not only slow, it is also expensive. Armenia simply does not have the necessary number of service personnel, repair base, and spare parts. All this has to be created from scratch. Training will be a lengthy process, and the Indian systems do not yet have a track record in Armenia's climate. More than 30 per cent of the latest batch of weapons imported from India have already failed after a few rounds and have not been repaired for months.

The artillery purchased has not been tested for maximum range. Moreover, the ammunition is incompatible with other systems in the Armenian Armed Forces' inventory and does not meet the minimum number of rounds required by the army.

There are major questions about the quality of the Indian systems themselves. The specialists who are supposed to use them are extremely dissatisfied with the majority of weapons purchased from India. They believe that the signing of the contract is primarily due to a political decision and not to the wishes of the specialists.

There is no logical explanation for the decision to buy Indian weapons from a military-practical point of view. It is purely a disengagement policy with Russia. Strange logic: Yerevan accuses Moscow of providing ineffective guarantees. At the same time, it actively cooperates with other countries that do not provide any guarantees at all. What is more, an open and demonstrative rearmament is clearly not conducive to de-escalation and is likely to unleash the hands of Baku, which will perceive it as a challenge.

India's motives are perfectly understandable. As a young player in the global arms market, it needs buyers, whoever they may be.

France's motivation is also clear. It needs to expand its market as one of the world's leading arms producers. Besides, it makes a lot of money since it "sells" its armoured vehicles to Armenia for 450,000 euros, and even Ukraine rejected this "generous" offer. Ripping Yerevan away from Moscow is also a political aspect.

But it is much more difficult to understand the actions of the Armenian authorities, who are chopping down the tree they are sitting on by distancing themselves from the only guarantee of their security - Russia," the political analyst said.

Caliber.Az