Armenia's former defence minister raises concerns over faulty Indian weapons

REGION  18 March 2024 - 13:59

Former Armenian Defence Minister Arshak Karapetyan has raised serious doubts about the functionality of weapons procured from India, shedding light on apparent operational deficiencies that have persisted for a year.

“Pashinyan is talking about buying weapons. The British say that we are ready to supply weapons to Armenia, and so the French also say,” Caliber.Az quotes Karapetyan as saying in an interview with Armenian media.

Expressing skepticism over the effectiveness of weapons acquisitions, Karapetyan questioned the viability of Armenia's defence budget allocation, particularly in comparison to the costs associated with maintaining various military assets: “I have a very good attitude towards these countries, but let’s understand that he [Pashinyan] donated weapons worth five billion, this is, firstly. Secondly, let's see how much a German tank costs and how much a Russian tank costs, is their maintenance the same price? What kind of budget planning should we spend on the defence of our country so that it can ensure the security of our country, if the price of one German tank already costs thirty per cent of our defence budget of the Ministry of Defence?"

"I don't want to underestimate any country, but I have information that whatever weapons they brought from India, they have been out of order for a year now and they can't do anything about it. I have reliable information. Yes, in Armenia it’s already out of order, they can’t service it, they can’t do anything,” Karapetyan said.

Caliber.Az