The Artsakh Defence Army is the defence force of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Established in 1992, it united previously disorganized self-defence units which were formed in the early 1990s with the goal of protecting the ethnic Armenian population of Artsakh from attacks by Soviet and Azerbaijani armed forces.
The military history of the Republic of Artsakh contains information about the history of military actions or events performed by or in the Republic of Artsakh.
Aeronautics Ltd. is an Israeli company specializing in the manufacturing of Unmanned Aerial Systems for military uses. Since its establishment in 1997, the company has sold its products to more than 20 defense, military and homeland security customers in 15 countries. Its headquarters are in Yavne, Israel.
There are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, largely due to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The two neighboring states had formal governmental relations between 1918 and 1921, during their brief independence from the collapsed Russian Empire, as the First Republic of Armenia and the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan; these relations existed from the period after the Russian Revolution until they were occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union, becoming the constituent republics of Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan. Due to the two wars waged by the countries in the past century—one from 1918 to 1921 and another from 1988 to 1994—the two have had strained relations. In the wake of ongoing hostilities, social memory of Soviet-era cohabitation is widely repressed.
The IAI Searcher is a reconnaissance UAV developed in Israel in the 1980s. In the following decade, it replaced the IMI Mastiff and IAI Scout UAVs then in service with the Israeli Army.
Gülablı, also known as Abdal-Gülablı, is a village in the Aghdam District of Azerbaijan.
The IAI Harop is a loitering munition developed by the MBT division of Israel Aerospace Industries. Loitering munitions are designed to loiter above the battlefield and attack targets by crashing into them and exploding.
Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, and Poland are known to have manufactured operational UCAVs as of 2019. As of 2022, the Ukrainian enterprise Ukroboronprom and NGO group Aerorozvidka have built strike-capable drones and used them in combat.
The Bayraktar UAV or Bayraktar UCAV is a family of unmanned aerial vehicles designed and manufactured by Turkish company Baykar. The UAVs were developed for the Turkish Armed Forces from 2004 until the present. Some models are designed for surveillance and reconnaissance only, others are capable of tactical ground-strike missions. Baykar is also developing drones to counter other aerial systems. The word bayraktar means flag-bearer in Turkish.
The 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, also known as the Four-Day War, April War, or April clashes, began along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact on 1 April 2016 with the Artsakh Defence Army, backed by the Armenian Armed Forces, on one side and the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the other.
A loitering munition is an aerial weapon system category in which the munition can loiter around the target area for some time and attacks only once a target is located. Loitering munitions enable faster reaction times against concealed or hidden targets that emerge for short periods without placing high-value platforms close to the target area, and also allow more selective targeting as the attack can be changed midflight or aborted.
Baykar is a private Turkish defence company specialising in UAVs, C4I and artificial intelligence.
The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations. It is manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., primarily for the Turkish Armed Forces. The aircraft are monitored and controlled by an aircrew in a ground control station, including weapons employment. The development of the UAV has been largely credited to Selçuk Bayraktar, a former MIT graduate student.
The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involving Azerbaijan, Armenia and the self-declared Armenian breakaway state of Artsakh. The war lasted for 44 days and resulted in Azerbaijani victory, with the defeat igniting anti-government protests in Armenia. Post-war skirmishes continued in the region, including substantial clashes in 2022.
Jalal Anatolii Harutyunyan is an Armenian general from the Republic of Artsakh who formerly served as Commander of the Artsakh Defense Army and Minister of Defense of Artsakh. He commanded the Artsakh Defense Army during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War until his dismissal on 27 October 2020 after being wounded in action. He was appointed Head of the Military Control Service of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia in February 2021. Harutyunyan was suspended from this role in connection with a criminal case opened against him in September 2022.
This is an account of engagements which occurred during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, primarily based on announcements from the belligerents. The war has been characterized by the use of armoured warfare; drone warfare, especially the use of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 and Israeli loitering munition Harop drones; heavy artillery; rocket attacks; and trench warfare. It has also featured the deployment of cluster munitions, which are banned by the majority of the international community but not by Armenia or Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan states that Armenia has deployed cluster munitions against civilians, and international third parties have confirmed evidence of Azerbaijan's use of cluster munitions against civilian areas of Nagorno-Karabakh. A series of ballistic missile attacks have inflicted mass civilian casualties in Ganja, Azerbaijan, while civilian residences and infrastructure in Stepanakert, and elsewhere have been targeted, inflicting casualties and causing extensive damage.
Casualties of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War fought between Armenia, the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, have been high, officially in the low thousands. According to official figures released by the belligerents, Armenia and Artsakh lost 3,825 troops, with 187 servicemen missing in action, while Azerbaijan claimed 2,906 of their troops were killed, with 6 missing in action. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the deaths of 541 Syrian fighters or mercenaries fighting for Azerbaijan. However, it was noted that the sides downplayed the number of their own casualties and exaggerated the numbers of enemy casualties and injuries.
Aras Valley campaign was a military operation launched by Azerbaijan against the breakaway Republic of Artsakh along the Aras River in the Azerbaijan–Iran border during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.
Because of the geography, history, and sensitivities of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, accusations, allegations, and statements have been made of involvement by third-party and international actors during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, including in media reports. Azerbaijan has been accused of employing Syrian mercenaries during the war, including reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). There have also been allegations of Kurdish militia from Syria and Iraq fighting on the Armenian side, and although some third-party sources had confirmed it, some publications had considered these claims "dubious". During the war, ethnic Armenian volunteers from the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America fought on Armenian side. Both sides have denied employing mercenaries in the war, but the OHCHR had stated that there were reports about Syrian fighters motivated primarily by private gain fighting on Azerbaijan's side recruited with Turkey's assistance and foreign nationals fighting on Armenian side with motivation being investigated, calling for withdrawal of any mercenaries and related actors from Nagorno-Karabakh.
