Armed Forces of Armenia

Armed Forces of Armenia
Հայաստանի զինված ուժեր
Emblem of the Armenian Armed Forces
Founded28 May 1918; 106 years ago
Current form28 January 1992; 32 years ago
Service branches Armenian Ground Forces
 Armenian Air Force
HeadquartersYerevan
Websitewww.mil.am/en
Leadership
Commander-in-chief President Vahagn Khachaturyan
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
Minister of Defence Suren Papikyan
Chief of the General Staff Major General Edvard Asryan
Personnel
Military age18–27[1]
Conscription24 months
Available for
military service		809,576 males, age 15–49,
870, 864[6] females, age 15–49
Fit for
military service		637,776 males, age 15–49,
729,846 females, age 15–49
Reaching military
age annually		35,774 males,
35,182 females
Active personnel70,000 (65,000 army, 5,000 air forces and air defense) + 5,000 paramilitary (IISS estimate)[2]
Reserve personnel210,000 former service personnel with service in last 15 years[2]
Deployed personnel Syria (83)[3]
 Kosovo (58 in KFOR)[4]
 Lebanon (1 in UNFIL)[5]
Expenditure
Budget$1.70 billion (2025)[1]
Percent of GDP= 6% (2025)
Industry
Domestic suppliersScientific-Production Association Garni-Ler
Aspar Arms
Avtomatika Plant
UAVLAB[citation needed]
Foreign suppliers Russia[7][8]
 India[9]
 France[9][10]
 China[11]
 Bulgaria[11]
 Serbia[11]
 Ukraine[12]
 Belarus[11]
Related articles
HistoryMilitary history of Armenia
1918–1920 Armenian-Azerbaijani War
1918 Armenian-Georgian War
1920 Turkish–Armenian War
1920 Red Army invasion of Armenia
1921 February Uprising
1988–1994 First Nagorno-Karabakh War
2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War
September 2022 Armenia–Azerbaijan clashes
RanksMilitary ranks of Armenia

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia[13] (Armenian: Հայաստանի Հանրապետության զինված ուժեր, romanized: Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan zinvats uzher, abbreviated ՀՀ ԶՈՒ, HH ZU), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Army (հայկական բանակ, haykakan banak), is the national military of Armenia. It consists of personnel branches under the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces,[14] which can be divided into two general branches: the Ground Forces, and the Air Force.[15] Although it was partially formed out of the former Soviet Army forces stationed in the Armenian SSR (mostly units of the 7th Guards Army of the Transcaucasian Military District), the military of Armenia can be traced back to the founding of the First Republic of Armenia in 1918. Being landlocked, Armenia does not have a navy.

The Commander-in-Chief of the military is the President of Armenia, Vahagn Khachaturyan. The Ministry of Defence is in charge of political leadership, headed by Suren Papikyan, while military command remains in the hands of the general staff, headed by the Chief of Staff, who is Major-General Eduard Asryan [hy]. Border guards subject to the Ministry of Defence until 2001,[16] patrol Armenia's borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan, while Russian troops continue to monitor its borders with Iran and Turkey.[17][18] Since 2002, Armenia has been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.[19] Armenia signed a military cooperation plan with Lebanon on 27 November 2015.[20]

  1. ^ "The World Factbook—Central Intelligence Agency". Cia.gov. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b The Military Balance 2024. International Institute for Strategic Studies. 2024. p. 178. ISBN 978-1-032-78004-7.
  3. ^ "Armenia Sends Deminers To Syria As Part Of Russia-Backed Mission". RFE/RL. 10 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Contributing Nations". jfcnaples.nato.int. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024.
  5. ^ "UNIFIL Troop-Contributing Countries". unifil.unmissions.org. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024.
  6. ^ The World Factbook 2008. Government Printing Office. 2009. ISBN 978-0-16-087361-4.
  7. ^ "Acquisition of military equipment from Russia dropped from 96 percent to less than 10 percent: Secretary of Security Council". 1lurer.am. Public TV of Armenia. 6 March 2024. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. The acquisition of military equipment, for example, from 96 percent with Russia has dropped to less than 10 percent
  8. ^ Wezeman, Pieter D.; Kuimova, Alexandra; Smith, Jordan (30 April 2021). "Arms transfers to conflict zones: The case of Nagorno-Karabakh". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Despite Russia acting as a leading mediator in the conflict between the two countries, in 2011–20, it accounted for 94 per cent of Armenia's imports of major arms...
  9. ^ a b "Armenia 'Diversifying' Arms Suppliers". azatutyun.am. RFE/RL. 5 February 2024. "In this process, we have also acquired new partners," Papikian said, singling out India and France.
  10. ^ "Armenia signs arms contract with France amid boost in military ties". Radio France Internationale. 23 February 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d Nazaretyan, Hovhannes (2 February 2023). "Three Decades of Arms Supplies to Armenia and Azerbaijan". EVN Report.
  12. ^ Kucera, Joshua (8 August 2011). "Tajikistan Buying Guns; Ukraine Selling Weapons to Both Armenia and Azerbaijan". Eurasianet. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  13. ^ "MoD Defense Policy Department". mil.am. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.
  14. ^ "Борисоглебское высшее военное авиационное ордена Ленина Краснознаменное училище лётчиков им. В.П. Чкалова | bvvaul.ru". bvvaul.ru.
  15. ^ "Middle East:: Armenia  – The world factbook—Central intelligence". 11 August 2020.
  16. ^ "DocumentView".
  17. ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2004). "Refworld | Chronology for Russians in Azerbaijan". Refworld. Minorities at Risk Project. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  18. ^ "Russia - Bilateral Relations". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia (in Armenian). Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  19. ^ "Collective Security Treaty Organization". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia (in Armenian). Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  20. ^ "Armenia and Lebanon Sign 2016 Military Cooperation Plan—Armenian News By MassisPost". Massispost.com. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2017.