Defense Minister: Armenia optimizing size, structure of army

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia is reforming the army after the recent hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, optimizing the size of the army, and switching to new systems of weapons and military equipment, Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"Military reforms in Armenia are not just planned, they are already underway, and our Russian colleagues are directly involved in the process," Harutyunyan said.

According to him, most efforts will be directed to the development of command and control systems, intelligence, electronic warfare, air defense and unmanned aircraft, missile forces and artillery.

The Defense Minister said the reforms were discussed with Russian military officials who visited Armenia in late January. Harutyunyan added that Yerevan is counting on Moscow's role in the peacekeeping process in Karabakh.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 9 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side has returned all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.