Army of Azerbaijan was established in 1918, when Azerbaijan to establish a separate body, it was announced by the Government of the ADR, which became the first democratic country in the Muslim East.But independence did not last long, and its own armed forces in the country formed only in 1991, after the second acquisition of sovereignty.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a sharp aggravation of inter-ethnic conflicts, which in some regions turned into armed clashes.Emerged in post-Soviet states have become a matter of urgency to acquire own armies, is no exception and Azerbaijan.
Since 1991, in the course of the Karabakh conflict, the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.It was caused by the contradiction between the desire for self-determination of the autonomous republic, populated mainly by Armenians, the Azerbaijani leadership and a desire to preserve the country's territorial integrity by any means.
Army of Azerbaijan as an Armenian, was armed with Soviet tanks, planes and artillery pieces.After years of sharp confrontation phase is the moment a fragile truce, but before the end of the conflict can not be considered settled.Besides Armenia, none of the states in the region is a potential opponent of Baku, and so the main task, which at the present stage the army decides to Azerbaijan, a military confrontation with Armenia.
Defense Doctrine dictates the size of the armed forces and their weapons, and the size of the budget.Army of Azerbaijan and Armenia are constantly compared, and all quantitative indicators observed its superiority.
force strength of 82 thousand. Man against 35.5 thousand. Have the potential enemy.Tanks - 340 and 110 respectively.The relatively small gap in the number of multiple rocket launchers "Grad" 60 against 50, but almost three-fold superiority in attack and fighter aircraft.
should also take into account the number of reservists subject to mobilization in case of war.As in Armenia, Azerbaijan sees a potential enemy, the number of reservists in the two neighboring countries are also subject to calculation.At the same time the number of the Armenian side in the two and a half times less than Azerbaijan.
Military expenditure also differ substantially.As of 2011 Azerbaijani army has cost taxpayers $ 3 billion 200 million US dollars, while Armenia has spent on defense needs at least half a billion.
organizational structure of the Azerbaijani army is quite simple and effective, and includes ground forces, air force and air defenses combined, the National Guard and special forces.Types troops promptly submit to the General Staff, administratively managed by the Ministry of Defense and the President is the supreme commander.
Army of Azerbaijan, according to foreign experts, has a number of institutional weaknesses that lead to the fact that the overall combat capability of its relatively low.The same can be said about the Armenian armed forces.
However, this situation is partly offset by the fact that the Armenian airspace is fully controlled by the air forces of the Russian Federation, which have an air base on its territory.
