At the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2016", which takes place in Kubinka near Moscow from September 6 to 11, in addition to the exhibition stands of various defense companies, there are 3 national expositions related to the countries of the Eurasian Union: Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Therefore, this forum provides a good opportunity to talk about the capabilities of the military-industrial complex (MIC) of Russia's closest allies. In this article, we will talk about the military-industrial complex of Armenia.
The automatic artillery reconnaissance system has already passed the "baptism of fire" in Karabakh
The 2K02 automated reconnaissance and artillery fire control complex, according to a representative of the Armenian Defense Ministry who demonstrated this product, is already actively used in the armed forces of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Moreover, it showed itself perfectly during the April hostilities, including during the key episode of the war - an artillery strike against the Azerbaijani troops rebuilding for a tank breakthrough in the Aghdam direction.
The device consists of two highly sensitive video cameras that provide up to 32 times magnification and work at night, a laser rangefinder and an operator console. The received data about the target (distance to it and angles), coupled with the GPS-determination of the location of the device itself, allows you to get the exact coordinates of the detected target (the maximum detection distance is 20 kilometers). The coordinates are sent by radio channel, or by wire, to the artillery commander (at a distance of up to 12 kilometers from the device), where he receives data taking into account the meteorological conditions, the types of shells used, the state of the gunpowder, etc. After that, the artillery strikes according to the data received. After the first shot, an automatic correction is accepted, and the second shot is already guaranteed to hit the target. If, without this device, the standard for hitting a target is 5 minutes, then with it it drops to only 1 minute from the moment the target is detected.
The radar station will protect against "surprises"
The second main exhibit of the Armenian stand was the portable Doppler radar station MEG-1. This device allows you to detect people at distances of up to 2, 2 kilometers, and military equipment at a distance of up to 3, 3 kilometers. At the same time, the device weighs only 15 kg, which allows it to be moved quickly enough. At the moment, the Armenian armed forces have already ordered a number of such devices. After the radars are delivered to the troops, they will be located on the front line - the line of contact with the Azerbaijani troops. In combination with the active supply of the army with thermal imaging cameras and night vision devices, this device will make it almost impossible to conduct inconspicuous night sabotage attacks (until recently, they claimed many lives every year).
In addition to these two devices, the Armenian delegation presented a laser rangefinder of its own production, a periscope for observation from closed positions, as well as electronic components for the modernization of Soviet anti-aircraft missile systems and radars.
What Armenia did not bring to the Army-2016
Unfortunately, the Armenian exposition was rather small - although it was possible to bring many more different products. The most interesting thing, for sure, would be unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which Armenia has been producing for several years, especially since the topic of UAVs is now very "fashionable" at any military exhibitions. The same tactical drone X-55, capable of conducting reconnaissance at a depth of 85 kilometers, also took part in the 4-day war in Karabakh, and, according to the military, showed itself well. It would also be interesting to look at the products of the Polish-Armenian company "Lubava-Armenia", which produces a wide range of protective equipment and other military equipment. Small arms (there are assault and sniper rifles of most of the main calibers) could also be of some interest for some countries, due to their low price category.
It is likely that all of the above can be seen at the International Exhibition of Arms and Defense Technologies "ArmHiTec-2016", which will be held in Yerevan from 13 to 15 October. The largest Russian military-industrial complex companies will also take part in it.
