Armenian Army

Army of the Republic of Armenia Հայաստանի Հանրապետության բանակ
Active	January 28, 1992 – Present
Country	Republic of Armenia
Type	Army
Role	Ground warfare
Size	45,850 (including 19,950 professional and 25,900 conscripts)[1]
Engagements	Nagorno-Karabakh War Peacekeeping roles in Kosovo , Afghanistan and Lebanon
Commanders
Notable commanders	-Vazgen Sargsyan -Arkady Ter-Tatevosyan

The Armenian Army (Armenian: Հայկական բանակ) is the largest branch of the Armed Forces of Armenia and consists of the ground forces responsible for the country's land-based operations. It was established in conjunction with the other components of Armenia's military on January 28, 1992, several months after the republic declared its independence from the Soviet Union.^[2] The army's first head was the former deputy commander-in-chief of the main staff of the Soviet Ground Forces, Norat Ter-Grigoryants.^[3]

Since the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenia has committed many elements of the army to help bolster the defense and defend the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh from a possible renewal of hostilities with neighboring Azerbaijan. Jane's World Armies reports that both conscripts and officers from Armenia are routinely sent for duty to Karabakh, often posted to the frontline between Karabakh Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.^[4]

History

The Armenian army's history is described to have gone through three stages of development.^[5] It entered the first stage in February 1988, from the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, when Armenian militias were formed to combat Azerbaijani units in Nagorno-Karabakh. The second phase of the development of the army began in 1992, several months after Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Ter-Grigoryants and civilian officials in the Armenian Ministry of Defense, including Vazgen Manukyan and Vazgen Sargsyan, sought to establish a "small, well-balanced, combat-ready defense force."^[6] The third phase began after the end of the war and continues to today.

Most of the army's staff officers were members of the former Soviet military. An estimated 5,000 Armenians were serving as high-level officers in the military at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union.^[7] Almost immediately after its independence, Armenia was embroiled in the Nagorno-Karabakh War with neighboring Azerbaijan. Intending to establish a force of 30,000 men, the army's standing force increased to 50,000 by early 1994. During the war, the military remained on high alert and bolstered defenses in the region of Zangezur, opposite the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan. Purported artillery bombardment in May 1992 from the region led to skirmishes between the two sides, including the Armenian army's incursion into several villages into Nakhichevaan.

Since 1994, the army has taken an active role in ensuring the defense of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in conjunction with the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army.^[8]

International deployments

Armenian soldiers in Iraq

The Armenian army has collaborated in several international missions with the West. On February 12, 2004, Armenia deployed a platoon-sized unit (three squads) to Kosovo as a part of the Greek peacekeeping battalion. The unit, known as the Peacekeeping Forces of Armenia, is headquartered in Camp "REGAS FEREOS" as a part of the Multi-National Task Force East and is tasked with maintaining vehicle check points, providing security for the base but also serves as a quick reaction force and crowd and riot control.^[9] In 2008, the KFOR unit was expanded, adding a second platoon plus company staff (bringing Armenia's contingent to about 85 personnel).^[10]

In the autumn of 2004, the Armenian government approved the dispatch of a 46-man contingent from the army consisting of sappers, engineers and doctors under Polish command as part of the Multinational Force in Iraq. On November 10, 2006, Senior Lieutenant Georgy Nalbandyan was injured in a mine explosion in Iraq but survived after being transported for surgery to a hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, near Ramstein Air Base.^[11] On October 6, 2008, due to improving security conditions, the contingent's tour of duty came to an end.^[12]

In July 2009, the Defense Minister of Armenia, Seyran Ohanyan, announced that Armenia would send a force to participate with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the War in Afghanistan by the end of the year. He did not mention how large the force would be but did note that it probably would include munitions experts and communications officers. A MOD spokesmen also stated that the force would include medical specialists and translators as well. Ohanyan added that Armenian officers who served in the Soviet military during the Soviet War in Afghanistan also expressed the desire to return there as members of the new force.^[13] In November 2009, a NATO official affirmed that an Armenian contingent numbering 30 troops will join the ISAF sometime in early 2010.^[14] That number was revised to 40 in early December, when the Armenian parliament overwhelmingly voted in approval of the contingent's deployment. The servicemen arrived in Afghanistan in February 2010, where, under German command, they are tasked to defend the regional airport in Kunduz.^[15] There are currently 126 servicemen in Afghanistan.^[16]

In conjunction with its strategic allies, Armenia has sent over 1,500 officers to be trained in Greece and Russia.^[5] The Armenian Ministry of Defense also established in 2004 a joint partnership with the Kansas National Guard in order to exchange knowledge and facilitate cooperation in national security and civilian affairs. It also signed a military cooperation plan with Lebanon on November 27, 2015.^[17]

Organization

Armenian soldiers training at the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Institute.

General Staff

• Colonel-General Seyran Ohanyan - Defense Minister
• Colonel-General Mikael Harutyunyan - Chief Military Inspector and Presidential Advisor
• Colonel-General Gurgen Daribaltayan — Deputy head of Chief of Staff and special military adviser to current president, Serzh Sargsyan
• Colonel-General Harut Kassabyan - Commander of Capital Guard
• Lieutenant-General Aghik Myurzabekyan
• Lieutenant-General Arthur Aghabekyan
• Lieutenant-General Yuri Khachaturov
• Lieutenant-General Gurgen Melkonyan
• Lieutenant-General Roland Kereshyan

Academies

• Monte Melkonian Military Academy
• Vazgen Sargsyan Military Academy

Field Forces

Armenian Army Order of Battle

• 1st Army Corps (HQ Goris):^[4] one independent tank battalion, one independent reconnaissance battalion, two motor rifle regiments.^[18]
• 2nd Army Corps (HQ Khachaghbyur): one independent tank battalion, one independent reconnaissance battalion, one independent rifle regiment, two independent motor rifle regiments, one independent artillery battalion.
• 3rd Army Corps (HQ Vanadzor): one independent rifle regiment, one independent artillery battalion, one independent tank battalion, one independent reconnaissance battalion, one independent rocket artillery battalion, four independent motor rifle regiments, one maintenance battalion, one signals battalion.
• 4th Army Corps (HQ Yeghegnadzor): four independent motor rifle regiments, an independent self-propelled artillery battalion, one signals battalion.
• 5th Army Corps (HQ Nubarashen in Yerevan): two fortified regions, one independent motor rifle regiment, one independent rifle regiment.
• Army-level Troops:^[18] one air and air defence joint command (Jane's World Armies mentions an Army Air and Air Defence at Chobankara under Colonel Ararat Hambarian), one training motor rifle brigade, one special forces regiment (Jane's World Armies mentions a regiment at Nubarashen under Colonel Artur Simonian), one artillery brigade, one self-propelled artillery regiment, one anti-tank regiment, one engineer regiment with demining centre, one surface-to-air missile brigade, two surface-to-air missile regiments, one radiotechnical (radar) regiment. ^[19]

Special Forces

The Armenian military's special forces include a standard army special forces regiment, and 3+ reconnaissance battalions. (Excluding Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army Special Forces and National Defense forces, both of which are heavily integrated into the Armenian Armed Forces.) The operational history surrounding all the aforementioned groups are not known, the operation's that are known and are outside of standard duties such as intelligence gathering include:

• Unknown number of cross-border raids ^[20]

• The securing of Armenian pilot's remains and helicopter parts after the shoot down of a Nagorno-Karabakh helicopter ^[21]

The special forces of both republics are allowed fast-attack vehicles to conduct some operations and exercises.

Equipment

Small arms

Weapon	Caliber	Origin	Notes
Pistols and Submachine Guns
Makarov PM	9x18 mm	Soviet Union	Service Pistol
Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles and Carbines
AK-74	5.45×39 mm	Soviet Union	Service Rifle
AK-74M	5.45×39 mm	Soviet Union	Used mainly by the Special Forces
AKS-74U	5.45×39 mm	Soviet Union	Used by special forces, police, and vehicle crews. Usually used for urban/close quarter combat and counter-terrorsm operations
AKM	7.62×39 mm	Soviet Union	Used by all branches, usually for urban/close quarter combat and counter terrorist operations
AK-105	5.45×39 mm	Russia	Used mainly by border guards and special forces
K-3	5.45×39 mm	Armenia	Used mainly by the special forces
Sniper Rifles
Accuracy International AWM	.338 Lapua Magnum	United Kingdom	Used by snipers and Special Forces. (Possibly acquired from Russia or Greece).
Dragunov SVD	7.62×54 mm	Soviet Union	Main service sniper rifle
K-11	5.45×39 mm	Armenia	Used by the Armenian armed forces
PGM 338	.338 Lapua Magnum	France	Used by snipers and the Special Forces
Sv-98	.338 Lapua Magnum	Russia	Used by snipers and the Special Forces
Zastava M93 Black Arrow	12.7×108 mm	Serbia	An anti-materiel sniper rifle is used by snipers and Special Forces
Machine Guns
RPK-74	5.45×39 mm	Soviet Union
PK machine gun	7.62×54 mm	Soviet Union
DShK	12.7×108 mm	Soviet Union
NSV machine gun	12.7×108 mm	Soviet Union
Kord machine gun[22]	12.7×108 mm	Russia
Grenade Launchers
AGS-17	30 x 29 grenade	Soviet Union
AGS-30	30 x 29 grenade	Russia
Anti-tank Systems
RPG-7	85 mm	Soviet Union
SPG-9	73 mm	Soviet Union
Anti-tank Guided Missile
9M113 Konkurs[23]	135 mm	Soviet Union
9K114 Shturm[23]	130 mm	Soviet Union
MILAN[24]	103 mm	France Germany	AT-13 Metis - M.
MANPADS
Strela 2	72 mm	Soviet Union
Mortars
Soltam K6[23]	120 mm	Israel	19 in use

Vehicles

Military equipment Armenian Army as of 2008-2014

Name	Origin	Type	Number	Photo	Notes
Armoured vehicles
T-90S	Russia	Main Battle Tank	1		Won in Tank biathlon
T-80[25]	Soviet Union	Main Battle Tank	20
T-72	Soviet Union	Main Battle Tank	200[26]		Some T-72BA/3s are in service with Kontakt-5 ERA. Many more T-72 units are estimated to be in the service of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army. Armenia also received 35 T-72s from Russia [27]
T-55	Soviet Union	Main Battle Tank	8		3 T-54 and 5 T-55
BMP-2	Russia	Infantry fighting vehicle	50-100		50-100 units modernized/repaired by Russia in 2012-2013[28] Possibly more in storage [29]
BMP-1	Soviet Union	Infantry fighting vehicle	80
BMP-1K	Soviet Union	Infantry fighting vehicle	7		Command Variant
BRM-1K	Soviet Union	Infantry fighting vehicle	12		Command Variant
BMD-1	Soviet Union	Infantry fighting vehicle	10
BRDM-2	Soviet Union	Scout car	120		Includes anti-tank variant
BTR-80	Soviet Union	Armoured personnel carrier	160		Possibly more in storage [29][30]
BTR-70	Soviet Union	Armoured personnel carrier	40+		Upgraded with new engines and 30mm gun
BTR-60	Soviet Union	Armoured personnel carrier	100+
BTR-152	Soviet Union	Armoured personnel carrier
MT-LB	Soviet Union	Armoured personnel carrier	145		Including following variants: Snar-10 Big Fred[23] - Radar system 9P149 - ATGM launcher 9K35 Strela-10 - Vehicle-mounted SAM system
GAZ-2975[31]	Russia	Armoured personnel carrier	N/A

Other

BM-21 GRAD mobile rocket artillery.

9K33 Osa mobile anti-aircraft units on parade in Yerevan.

Body Armor

• Locally produced body armor in use with all military units
• Polish-Armenian company Lubawa SA is to begin supplying Armenian military units with Kevlar helmets and body armor, along with multi-spectral camouflage for vehicles.^[32]

Anti-aircraft^[1]

• S-300PM - Surface-to-air missile
• SA-4 Ganef - Surface-to-air missile
• 2K12 Kub - Surface-to-air missile
• S-75 - Surface-to-air missile
• S-125 - Surface-to-air missile
• 9K33 Osa - Surface-to-air missile
• ZSU-23-4 - Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon
• ZU-23-2 - Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon
• 57 mm AZP S-60 - Anti-aircraft gun

Artillery

• 9K720 Iskander (several units)^[33]
• SCUD-B^[34] - Tactical ballistic missile launcher
• BM-30 Smerch^[35] - multiple rocket launcher
• BM-21 GRAD - multiple rocket launcher (47)
• OTR-21 Tochka - Tactical ballistic missile
• 9А51 "Prima" - multiple rocket launcher
• WM-80 - multiple rocket launcher (4)
• WM-120 - multiple rocket launcher
• BM-27 Uragan - multiple rocket launcher
• AR1A 300 mm^[36] - multiple rocket launcher
• 2S3 Akatsiya - Self-propelled artillery (28)
• 2S1 Gvozdika - Self-propelled artillery (10)
• D-20 - Howitzer (34)
• D-30 - Howitzer (90)
• 152 mm gun 2A36^[1] - Field gun (26)
• T-12 antitank gun^[37] - Anti-tank gun (36)

Radar systems

• P-12 radar
• P-15 radar
• P-40 radar

See also

• Military history of Armenia
• Armenian Air Force
• Armenian Air Defense

Notes

External links

• Ministry Of Defence of The Republic Of Armenia