VIDEO: Today the Government Cannot Deny That It Acquired Weapons Without Reading the Russian Government's Decision - Movses Hakobyan

There was a development plan for 2018-2022 outlining what military equipment to acquire, but it has changed. Instead of ‘Tors’, ‘SUs’ were purchased. Movses Hakobyan, the former head of the Military Inspection Service of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia and ex-Chief of General Staff, mentioned this during a press conference on November 19.

“I was the Deputy Minister of Defense and I signed the contracts for arming our army. 'Smerch' systems, 'Tors', 'Igla-S', and 'Verba' systems were acquired. These are the weapons that fought in this war. They were mainly acquired in 2017, with some 'Tors' purchased in 2018. A large quantity of grenade launchers and ‘Kord’ were obtained, and there were plans to acquire a significant number of artillery missiles.

In 2017, there was a development plan for 2018-2022 regarding what should be acquired. It was intended to acquire two more divisions of 'Tors', one of which was planned for 2018—10% of the advance payment had been made—and the other for 2019. This plan was not abstract; it detailed where the funds were to come from. It was clear. Another division of 'Smerch' was to be acquired, our 'Iskander’ system was to be perfected, and 'Kornet' along with a large quantity of ammunition was to be purchased.

The active plan of 2018 was altered. They acquired 'SU 30SM' and 'OSA' systems. Now ask how many of these have fired. Not one. They were acquired because they did not understand what war is.

I personally told the Prime Minister that you will have to answer for this. Whenever I traveled abroad, in the hotel lobby I was approached by vendors of 'SU 30' and 'OSA' waiting to sell them to us. That’s how arms procurement works. They are constantly looking to sell you something. Later, I learned what my itinerary was to understand how these people ended up there trying to convince me.

Since 2016, I have been persuaded to acquire ‘SU30’, but I refused. I justified to the President why that is not necessary for us.

Today, the government cannot deny that it has acquired weapons without reading the Russian government's decision, which prohibits the sale of ammunition to them. In other words, despite the claims that these can launch air-to-air missiles up to 130 km, according to the Russian government’s decision, it is prohibited to sell this ammunition to third countries. Consequently, the 'SUs' are here in our country without ammunition.

As for the 'OSAs', I have also stated that they are not suitable; new weaponry should be acquired because the next war will be of a new generation. I said, 'Fine, you bought 'SUs' with money that was meant for 'Tors', use this year’s funds to purchase 'Tors'.' They argued that the contract for 'Tors' would take longer, that this could be brought in quickly. I insisted that this was wrong.

For more details, watch the video from Pastinfo.