Why Was Artsakh's Airspace Not Closed During the 44-Day War? Air Defense Forces Chief Armen Vardanyan

During the entire 44-day war, a hunt was declared against Armenian air defense units, but combat crews fought until the last moment. This is stated by Major General Armen Vardanyan, Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the Armed Forces, in a report prepared by the "Zinuj" media.

“Captain Ordoyan set a world record by destroying 21 enemy UAVs with combat vehicles, including Bayraktar and other modern types. Unfortunately, Captain Ordoyan was killed in the final days of the war. The 22nd day took the life of our officer. Senior Lieutenant Hovhannes Vardanyan, commander of the Tor combat vehicle, also conducted multiple hits while simultaneously engaging four unmanned aerial vehicles. He shot down three; unfortunately, the fourth destroyed the combat vehicles, and our officers were killed,” he notes.

According to Armen Vardanyan, the rapid development of modern military technology does not allow existing means to urgently or completely neutralize the enemy's aerial assault capabilities. “During the 44-day war, Azerbaijan had a developed defense industry and collaborated with Israel and Turkey, which continuously supplied Azerbaijan with state-of-the-art aerial assault equipment. In many cases, they not only co-produced these means but also supported and fought against our armed forces through their operators during military operations,” states Armen Vardanyan.

He believes that closing airspace entirely is not feasible even for the most developed superpowers: “Even superpowers do not have systems that can completely incapacitate unmanned aerial vehicles.” According to Armen Vardanyan, air defense units managed to partially prevent the enemy's air dominance by shooting down even military equipment not designed for such targets. “Air defense units conducted battles in round-the-clock mode throughout the war. Approximately 1000 aircraft flyovers and over 2700 UAVs were detected, of which around 300 were shot down. The personnel of the air defense units were able to effectively accomplish combat tasks, despite the fact that the enemy had declared a hunt against our units. The equipment that was hit during military operations was locally repaired and returned to service to continue fighting,” emphasizes Major General Vardanyan.

Armen Vardanyan states that throughout the war, the enemy tried to locate the powerful air assets of the Armenian armed forces, particularly the S-300 missile systems. “The enemy never achieved its goal and did not destroy a single S-300 missile division. The divisions continuously evaded and engaged in battles. We have downed about 15 UAVs solely from the S-125 missile systems operated by our calculations. This is an excellent indicator because this technology was also not designed for such battles,” he presents.

Armen Vardanyan reports that some of the damaged military equipment has already returned to combat duty, and destroyed units are in the replenishment phase. “Works are being carried out with our strategic partner and other countries to acquire modern means with which we can later conduct our military operations, protecting the tranquility of our homeland,” adds Armen Vardanyan.