Azerbaijani Armed Forces

The Azerbaijani Armed Forces (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Silahlı Qüvvələri) are the unified military forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan, comprising the Land Forces, the Air Force and Air Defence Force, and the Navy, under the supreme command of the President of Azerbaijan, who serves as commander-in-chief. Re-established in their modern form on 9 October 1991, following the restoration of independence from the Soviet Union, the armed forces have grown into the largest military establishment in the South Caucasus. Their operational history—including the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994), the Four-Day War (2016), the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020), and the September 2023 military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh—has shaped a force widely noted for its integration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), loitering munitions, and modernized armor into combined-arms operations.

Background

Azerbaijan occupies a strategically significant position in the South Caucasus, on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. It borders Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, Iran to the south, and Turkey across a short frontier adjoining the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The country's substantial hydrocarbon resources and its role as a transit corridor between Europe, Russia, Iran, and Central Asia have given its security policy considerable regional weight. The unresolved conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which began in the late Soviet period, served as the principal catalyst for the creation and development of the national armed forces.

The legal foundations of the military are laid out in the Constitution of Azerbaijan (1995), which designates the defense of independence and territorial integrity as a duty of the state and its citizens, and in the Law "On the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan" of 9 October 1991. These documents are supplemented by the National Security Concept (adopted in 2007) and the Military Doctrine (adopted in 2010), which define the perceived threats, the defensive orientation of the force, and the doctrine of preparedness for the restoration of territorial integrity. Armed Forces Day is celebrated on 26 June, commemorating the founding of the national army of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918.

History

Origins and the Democratic Republic era (1918–1920). The first modern Azerbaijani military institution dates to the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), proclaimed on 28 May 1918. On 26 June 1918, the ADR government resolved to establish a national military corps, a date now commemorated as Armed Forces Day. Under Defense Minister General Samed bey Mehmandarov and his deputy Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, the young army, assisted by Ottoman forces, fought for control of Baku in 1918. The ADR armed forces were dismantled following the Soviet invasion of April 1920.

Soviet period (1920–1991). During seven decades of Soviet rule, Azerbaijanis served throughout the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. Several major formations were raised on Azerbaijani soil, including the 77th Mountain Rifle Division and, during the Second World War, the 402nd and 416th Rifle Divisions. Several hundred thousand Azerbaijanis served in the war against Nazi Germany, and dozens of natives of the republic were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Soviet military infrastructure in Azerbaijan—including the headquarters of the 4th Combined Arms Army in Baku—later provided much of the materiel base for the independent state's military.

Independence and the First Karabakh War (1991–1994). The modern armed forces were formally established by the law of 9 October 1991, amid the escalating conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. The early years were marked by severe difficulties: poorly coordinated units, defections of equipment and personnel, and a series of battlefield defeats, including the loss of Kelbajar in 1993. Internal political turmoil, including armed mutinies in 1993, further weakened the force. Heydar Aliyev, who came to power in June 1993, prioritized rebuilding state control over the military; a Russian-brokered ceasefire (the Bishkek Protocol) ended large-scale fighting in May 1994, leaving Azerbaijani forces in control of roughly 74 percent of internationally recognized territory but with Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent districts outside Baku's control.

Reform and modernization (1994–2020). The post-ceasefire decades were devoted to institutional consolidation, professionalization, and rearmament. Key elements included cooperation with NATO's Partnership for Peace from 1994, close military assistance from Turkey (which shaped training, education, and staff procedures), and, from the mid-2000s, oil-funded procurement of Russian, Turkish, and Israeli weapons systems. The Military Doctrine of 2010 formalized strategic priorities. Azerbaijani units engaged Armenian positions in periodic border clashes, most notably in the Four-Day War of April 2016, which demonstrated substantial improvements in combat capability. Significant UAV and loitering-munition programs developed jointly with Turkish and Israeli partners in the 2010s proved decisive in subsequent conflict.

The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020). On 27 September 2020, Azerbaijani forces launched a large-scale offensive along the entire line of contact. Over 44 days of fighting, the armed forces recaptured the seven districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and, with the entry into Shusha on 8 November, large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself. The extensive use of Bayraktar TB2 strike drones and Israeli Harop loitering munitions against armor, artillery, and air defenses drew worldwide analytical attention. A trilateral ceasefire signed on 10 November 2020 ended hostilities. Azerbaijan officially acknowledged approximately 2,900 military fatalities, with later figures somewhat higher. The war is regarded as one of the first conflicts in which drone-centric operations played a campaign-decisive role.

Post-2020 developments. Following the 2020 war, Azerbaijan consolidated control over the recovered territories, expanded defense spending, and carried out further organizational reforms. On 19–20 September 2023, a one-day "anti-terrorist operation" in Nagorno-Karabakh led to the disarmament of local Armenian forces and, shortly thereafter, the dissolution of the self-declared Republic of Artsakh, ending the three-decade-old conflict in Azerbaijan's favor. The armed forces have since focused on integrating the new territories, demining, continued modernization, and deepening alliance structures with Turkey.

Organization and Composition

The President of Azerbaijan is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, exercising authority through the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff. The Minister of Defence (Zakir Hasanov since 2013) administers the force, while the Chief of the General Staff directs operational planning. The armed forces consist of three principal branches:

• Land Forces. The largest branch, organized primarily into army corps (historically five, with reports of additional formations after 2020) comprising motorized rifle brigades, tank brigades, artillery and rocket artillery brigades, engineering, reconnaissance, and air-defense units, as well as an elite Special Forces component that played a prominent role in the 2020 war.
• Air Force and Air Defence Force. Operating fixed-wing combat aircraft (including MiG-29s and Su-25s), attack and transport helicopters, a substantial fleet of reconnaissance and strike UAVs, and air-defense units equipped with long-, medium-, and short-range systems. Principal air bases include Nasosni near Baku, Ganja, Dollyar, Yevlakh, and Sitalchay.
• Navy. Responsible for security in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, based principally at Zıgh near Baku, with patrol boats, landing craft, minesweeping assets, and naval special-warfare units.

In addition to the three branches, Azerbaijan maintains other armed structures outside the Ministry of Defence: the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Border Service (including its Coast Guard), and the National Guard under the Special State Protection Service, which together constitute a significant paramilitary tier.

Personnel, Training, and Education

Estimates of active-duty strength vary; the International Institute for Strategic Studies has placed the active force at roughly 64,000–67,000, while other open sources cite figures approaching 125,000 when all categories are counted. The mobilization reserve is generally assessed at more than 300,000. Military service is based on conscription: male citizens are liable for service from the age of 18, with terms of 12 to 18 months depending on educational attainment, and a growing share of the force consists of contract servicemen. Women serve in the armed forces, primarily in support, medical, and staff roles.

Military education is centered on the National Defense University (established in 2014 on the basis of the Armed Forces War Academy) and specialized service schools, including the Higher Military School named after Heydar Aliyev; military lyceums prepare secondary-school students for officer careers. Turkey has played a sustained role in officer training, with many Azerbaijani officers educated in Turkish academies, and the two countries' forces conduct regular joint exercises such as the "TurAz Qartalı" (Turkish-Azerbaijani Eagle) air exercises and the "Brotherly