Armenia has emerged as one of India's major importers of armaments, with reports suggesting their interest in purchasing the Akash Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM), an Indian-manufactured weapon.
Although the order has been recorded by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), there has been no official confirmation regarding this development.
The Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) short-range SAM system Akash is designed to thwart airborne attacks.
The Akash Weapon System (AWS) can engage multiple targets at once, including fighter jets, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating within a 4–25 km range, as stated on the BDL website. It is very resistant to jamming, completely automatic, and portable.
Over the past year, Armenia has nearly doubled its defence spending. These outlays in 2022 were approximately $700–800 million, but by 2024, it is expected to reach US$1.4 billion or US$1.5 billion.
Andranik Kocharyan, chairman of Armenia's parliamentary committee on Defence and Security Affairs, recently said that Armenia's acquisition of weapons has proven to be "very satisfactory".
New Delhi began providing defence supplies to Yerevan in 2022 due to Armenia's protracted conflict with Azerbaijan. Iran facilitated the delivery of the first shipment of weapons last year.
Earlier in January 2023, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan had referred to India's arms sale to Armenia as an “unfriendly move”, stating that “If we are facing a serious threat, we will deal with that threat immediately, regardless of where that threat arises, within our territory or outside our borders. It is our legitimate right to do so,” he contended.