CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 33

TINA KHARATYAN
bined army unit. 47 Military corps in Nakhijevan has become one of largest
subdivision of the Azerbaijani army having at the same time perfect geo-
graphical location to attack the Ararat valley if the fi ghts are restarted.
Evolving the role of the Ministry of defense industry
The Ministry of defense industry (MDI) was established based on the
decree of President Ilham Aliyev on December 16, 2005. However, until
2013 the development of defense industry was not the primary goal; the
purpose of ministry was to modernize the Soviet-era equipment and sign
new deals. The production of armament did not surpass 1 mln US dollars
per year in 2005-2006, and the rate of exports was pretty law. 48 In 2009
MDI had only 16 industrial sites. In 2012 MDI had already 30 industrial
sites, which allowed to register the immense growth in arms production.
If to compare the number of armament production in 2007 and 2012, it
increased ten-fold constituting 130 mln US dollars.
Since 2013, based on the provisions of the MD and the necessity to
equip the Azerbaijani army, the MDI started large-scale production of new
generation weaponry. Only in 2013 325.10mln US dollars were reallocated
to the MDI to launch large-scale new generation weaponry production.
Produced armaments are used not only for the local consumption but
also as an export product to more than 10 countries. 49 Today Azerbaijan
off ers more than 1100 types of modern weaponry such as “Shimshek-10”
machine gun, day/night cameras, “Yalguzag” and “Mubariz” rifl ed weap-
ons, etc. 50 Although Azerbaijan is the fourth drone importing country all
over the world, it has started the production of a new generation “Zerbe”
(Strike) drone in October 2016. 51
Overall the rate of production registered constant growth since the
beginning of the decade. The output of defense products has grown by
42 times in comparison with 2007 and in 2017 Azerbaijan has already 58
industrial sites instead of 30 (2012). 52 The export rate is increasing rap-
idly, too: in comparison with 2016, in 2017 the export volume was 2.3
times bigger including in the scope of cooperation countries such as the
47
48
49
50
51
52
Minasyanet al., Region’s military handbook; Makienko, “Waiting for a storm”.
Ibid.
Faud Shahbazov, “Azerbaijan to Boost Arms Exports in 2018.” The Jamestown Founda-
tion of Research and Analysis, January 19, 2018, https://jamestown.org/program/azerbai-
jan-boost-arms-exports-2018/ (accessed June 13, 2018); “Azerbaijan exports military prod-
ucts to more than 10-countries,” Qafqazinfo, December 17, 2017. http://qafqazinfo.az/news/
detail/azerbaycan-10-dan-cox-olkeye-herbi-mehsullar-ixrac-edir-205660 (accessed June 13,
2018).
Shahbazov, “Azerbaijan”.
Ibid.
Makienko, “Waiting for a storm”.
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