The 2nd Nagorno-Karabah War (2020): The graveyard of the brave

ΑΠΟΨΕΙΣ, ΕΞΩΤΕΡΙΚΗ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ - 19/10/2021. Συντάκτης: Defendia Newsroom

The 2020 Artsakh War will be remembered in the minds of everyone as the Falklands War of the 21^st century, why is that? Because like the Falklands War changed the way maritime operations, power projection and air war is waged, the same way the war of 2020, changed how we view modern UAVs, air recon, ground operations and anti-air weapons used.

The Armenian Armed Forces after their victory in the 1992-1994 conflict, they stopped investing in their military as much as Azerbaijan did. Furthermore, the Azeris invested a lot of money in building a capable ground force with both Russian-made and western systems. The military support of Turkish drones like the TB2 Bayraktar and the Israeli IAI Herons was detrimental to the Azeris victory, as both countries had very small and insignificant air forces, with the numbers favoring slightly the Azeris though. Turkish military operations in the region and the support/counseling to the Azeris resulted in the Armenian forces essentially being wiped out in the region. The thing is that the Armenians, even with so many disadvantages, fought bravely and their army lost the flat plains of the south part of the Artsakh Republic, but they managed to keep the north and middle parts of the region which were mountainous and not best suited for drones. Even so, Armenia lost the war and more than 3.700 soldiers to the 2.800 Azeri soldiers, and also was forced to give up the northern part of Artsakh to Azerbaijan.

This war was fought by brave men on both sides, that is a given, but my opinion is that the motives are sometimes more important than what actually happens on the battlefield. In the 44 days of the conflict, the Armenian Armed Forces fought ferociously to protect the Armenian population of the region, just like the Azeris did in Nakhchivan in 1992-1994. The Azeris fought for a bitter revenge, and what did they achieved really? Owning some lands of no strategic or economic importance. I feel that more than 5.500 people gave their lives for a stupid war, that in the end was more profitable to Russia economically and politically, and military-wise to Turkey who received even more military experience out of the whole conflict.