SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
Called ‘White Elephant’, the Armenian Su-30SM that was acquired from Russia in 2020 was a notable absentee from the air war over Nagorno-Karabakh during the 2020 conflict. Azerbaijani Su-25 close air support aircraft and Bayraktar TB2 drones due to this absence managed to cause havoc on Armenia air defence sites and ground troops.
Armenian Air Force did not deploy the Su-30SMs during combat for which it receive sharp criticism, one of the major reasons was that Armenian pilots were not trained enough and Armenia did not manage to purchase missiles for the aircraft before the outbreak of the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
As per media reports, Armenian Su-30SMs had only unguided rockets as its weapon system because of which it has now planned to diversify its resources to build its airforce and is looking at taking help from India which operates Su-30MKI upon which Russia had developed Su-30SM aircraft for its air force.
Areas of cooperation can range from training pilots to equipping them with some of the Indian-made weapons while deliberation is still ongoing continuous friction between Azerbaijan on its border. it’s looking to ramp up its air force and its newly acquired Su-30SM fleet.
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