Armenia's former defence minister raises concerns over faulty Indian weapons

Former Armenian Defence Minister Arshak Karapetyan has raised serious doubts about the functionality of weapons procured from India, shedding light on apparent operational deficiencies that have persisted for a year.

“Pashinyan is talking about buying weapons. The British say that we are ready to supply weapons to Armenia, and so the French also say,” Caliber.Az quotes Karapetyan as saying in an interview with Armenian media.

Expressing skepticism over the effectiveness of weapons acquisitions, Karapetyan questioned the viability of Armenia's defence budget allocation, particularly in comparison to the costs associated with maintaining various military assets: “I have a very good attitude towards these countries, but let’s understand that he [Pashinyan] donated weapons worth five billion, this is, firstly. Secondly, let's see how much a German tank costs and how much a Russian tank costs, is their maintenance the same price? What kind of budget planning should we spend on the defence of our country so that it can ensure the security of our country, if the price of one German tank already costs thirty per cent of our defence budget of the Ministry of Defence?"

"I don't want to underestimate any country, but I have information that whatever weapons they brought from India, they have been out of order for a year now and they can't do anything about it. I have reliable information. Yes, in Armenia it’s already out of order, they can’t service it, they can’t do anything,” Karapetyan said.

Related link: Armenia's former defence minister raises concerns over faulty Indian weapons

Caliber.Az presents an interview with Russian military expert Alexei Khlopotov discussing the quality issues with Indian weapons purchased by Armenia.

Some relevant excerpts...

— The Indian military-industrial complex itself is also questionable, to put it mildly, not the best known in the world of armaments....

— The choice, let us say, Armenians made was not a good one; this is exactly the kind of choice when Yerevan outsmarted itself. One should take into account the peculiarities of the Indian approach to labour. And Indians, let's be honest, are far from being the most diligent and quality producers of weapons in general. I judge from the direct experience of the Russian military-industrial complex with the Indians, I studied the details of this co-operation directly, being a military expert in the field of tank equipment. Here, the Indians showed simply marvellous unwillingness to work and do something. That is, Indians literally have to be forced to work. Therefore, in general, production in India thrives only if it is under the control of foreign supervisors - usually Americans or British. That is, it is very Indian to delay work as long as possible, to do a lousy job and then write a beautiful report on the high-quality work done.

— Let’s just say, the Armenians did not make the best choice; this is precisely one of those choices when Yerevan outwitted itself. It is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the Indian approach to work. And the Indians, let’s be honest, are far from the most efficient and high-quality manufacturers of weapons in general. Judging by the direct experience of the Russian military-industrial complex with the Indians, I studied the details of this cooperation directly, being a military expert in the field of tank technology. Here the Indians simply showed miracles of unwillingness to work and do something. That is, Indians literally need to be forced to work. Therefore, in general, production in India flourishes only if it is under the control of foreign curators - usually Americans or British. That is, to delay the work to the maximum, make a mistake and then write a beautiful report on the high-quality work done - this is very Indian.

Having received, for example, a license from Russia to produce the T-72M1 tank in the early eighties, the Indians were able to master its production only in the nineties, when the model of the tank itself was, in fact, already outdated and lost its relevance in the world of weapons. It’s about the same story with the Russian T-90, when a joint project for its production with the Indians got stuck in the swamp of Indian red tape and lasted for a decade, if not more. As for the project to create the national tank “Arjun”, India also implemented it according to the “bungle-blunder” formula. Its development has been going on since the 80s, that is, almost forty years. India is trying to create a formula for a national tank, during all this time several copies have been produced, but it has never entered full mass production. The Indians were never able to perfect this machine in order to put this tank into mass production and fill the national army with it. Instead, the tank shortage is covered by Russian T-90s, most of which were assembled directly in Russia, and not by the Indians themselves. Can you imagine the grotesque situation?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India campaign was intended to transform India into a global manufacturing hub that could compete with neighboring China. The main problem is that there is still too little real content behind the beautiful slogan. After all, the main point of the Make in India program was the indispensable condition that by purchasing this or that technology, India automatically acquired a license for its production. Thus, India intended to overtake China. But for some reason, neither Russian MIGs nor French Rafales are still flying in the skies of India. So, I think, with the Indian Pinaka, which was assembled using analogues and a license from the Russian MLRS or some other weapon with which Armenia is so dissatisfied, a similar story happened - it was simply not brought to fruition, it was produced in a clumsy way. Which in military parlance means that it is simply unusable.

— How then does Armenia intend to use such weapons?

— In fact, the state of supplies from India does not even matter much - the fate of these weapons in Armenia is still the same - it is scrap metal, which is of no use. Therefore, I perceive it as a purely political step, and not as a practical one. Against whom and how are they going to use it? Fight with Azerbaijan again? But the result is obvious - Armenia will lose again with a deafening crash. It's completely predictable. So what Armenia’s weapons are for is not entirely clear.

I don’t know, maybe these purchases of Indian multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) help Yerevan somehow increase its self-confidence? Maybe psychologically Mr. Pashinyan feels more comfortable this way? But this is more likely in the realm of sexual-political perversions than a conversation, excuse me, on the merits. But in reality, the military potential of Armenia and Azerbaijan is incomparable from the word “in general.”