SOURCE: AFI
In late 2024 and early 2025, Azerbaijan’s media outlets, such as Caliber.Az and Azernews, dismissed Armenia’s acquisition of India’s Akash-1S air defense system as an outdated “legacy” system, incapable of shifting the regional military balance. However, following India’s Operation Sindoor in May 2025, where the Akash system demonstrated its combat prowess against Pakistani aerial threats, the same media outlets have pivoted, now framing Armenia’s procurement as a “serious threat” to peace in the South Caucasus.
This rapid shift in narrative within a few months reflects a blend of geopolitical anxieties, evolving threat perceptions, and the undeniable battlefield performance of the Akash-1S, which has forced Azerbaijan to reassess its dismissive stance.
Armenia’s $720 million deal with India, signed in 2022 for 15 Akash-1S batteries and 400 missiles, marked a significant step in modernizing its air defense capabilities. The Akash-1S, developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), is an advanced variant of the Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. With a range of 25–30 km, an 18-km altitude ceiling, and an indigenous radio frequency (RF) seeker, it can engage multiple targets, including fighter jets, cruise missiles, and drones, with an 88–99% kill probability. Each battery includes four launchers with three missiles each, paired with a Rajendra 3D phased-array radar capable of tracking 64 targets and guiding 12 missiles simultaneously.
Azerbaijani media initially downplayed the system’s capabilities. In a May 23, 2025, article on Caliber.Az, the Akash-1S was labeled an “intermediate product” that “no longer meets the demands of modern armed conflicts.” The outlet argued that the system, designed to counter “legacy threats” like manned aircraft and cruise missiles, was ill-suited for modern warfare dominated by high-precision unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), kamikaze drones, and electronic warfare systems. The article suggested that Armenia’s investment was a “political gesture” with little strategic significance, incapable of countering Azerbaijan’s advanced drone tactics, as demonstrated by its decisive use of Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. This narrative was echoed across Azerbaijani platforms, framing the Akash-1S as outdated and irrelevant to the region’s evolving threat landscape.
This dismissive tone was partly rooted in Azerbaijan’s confidence in its military superiority, bolstered by oil-funded modernization and close ties with Turkey, which supplied advanced drones and tactical expertise during the 2020 conflict. Azerbaijan’s arsenal, including JF-17 Thunder fighter jets co-developed by Pakistan and China, was seen as outmatching Armenia’s aging Soviet-era defenses. The Akash-1S, despite its indigenous seeker and dual-guidance system (command guidance for mid-course and active seeker for terminal phase), was portrayed as a relic, with its specifications deemed impressive only “on paper.”
The turning point came with India’s Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, 2025, in response to a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, which killed 26 people. The operation targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, involving precise strikes by Indian forces using indigenous systems like the BrahMos cruise missile, D4 anti-drone systems, and the Akash-1S air defense system. Over the nights of May 8–10, the Akash-1S played a pivotal role in neutralizing waves of Pakistani drones, missiles, and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), including Chinese-made PL-15 missiles, demonstrating its effectiveness in real combat conditions.
The Akash-1S’s performance was lauded by Indian military officials. Air Marshal Bharti highlighted its “stellar performance” in creating an effective air defense environment, integrated with the Indian Air Force’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS). The system’s ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously, coupled with its electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM) features, allowed it to thwart Pakistan’s attempts to jam or deceive its radar. Lt. General Rajiv Ghai, Director General of Military Operations, emphasized the multi-layered counter-drone and air defense grid, likening it to an impenetrable shield. Prahlada Ramarao, former DRDO project director, expressed pride in the system’s success, noting its ability to detect hostile missiles at 70 km and destroy them at 30 km.
This combat-proven record, widely reported in Indian and international media, shattered the perception of the Akash-1S as a “legacy” system. “Akash SAM is now a combat proven system. It worked extremely well,” predicting increased export interest. The operation showcased the system’s versatility against modern threats, including drones and missiles, directly challenging Azerbaijan’s earlier assertions about its obsolescence.
By mid-May 2025, Azerbaijan’s media and analysts began sounding alarms about the Akash-1S. The Azerbaijan Center for International Relations (AIR Center) published a report in April 2025, acknowledging the system’s technical capabilities as a “potential threat” to Azerbaijan’s UAV operations, particularly its Turkish-supplied Bayraktar TB2 drones. The report noted the Akash-1S’s ability to counter low- to medium-altitude threats like the TB2, which operates at 5,500–8,000 meters, due to its advanced radar and high kill probability. Posts on X, such as one from @Arbaletintel in April 2024, had already suggested that the Akash could “successfully intercept Azerbaijani AF TB-2 UCAVs at ranges outside of MAM-C, L payload delivery,” highlighting its potential to neutralize drones before they could deploy munitions.
Azernews, in a May 12, 2025, article, expressed concern that Armenia’s acquisition of the Akash-1S, alongside other Indian systems like Pinaka rocket launchers and Zen anti-drone systems, could destabilize the fragile Russia-brokered ceasefire in the South Caucasus. The outlet argued that the system’s deployment “risks deepening mistrust” during peace negotiations, a sentiment echoed by Retired Brigadier General Yücel Karauz, Türkiye’s former Military Attaché in Azerbaijan. Karauz acknowledged the Akash-1S’s defensive capabilities but cautioned that its procurement sent a “problematic signal” amid sensitive talks.
This shift was further amplified by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, who, in April 2024, warned that Baku “will not sit idly by” while India and France arm Armenia, signaling heightened threat perceptions. By May 2025, posts on X reflected this change, with users like @SanatanPrabhat framing the Akash-1S deliveries as a “major blow” to Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Pakistan, and@NepCorres warning of a potential “repeat of Operation Sindoor” in Azerbaijan, dismissing Azerbaijan’s JF-17 jets as “flying ducks.” These sentiments underscored the growing unease in Baku, as Armenia’s bolstered air defenses threatened to counter Azerbaijan’s drone-heavy strategy, which had been a decisive factor in 2020.
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