Azerbaijani Defense Industry Expands Range of Their Weapons and Ready to Export

The military-industrial complex of Azerbaijan performs all its tasks to ensure the arms of the national army, and it is ready to export a number of weapons. This was stated by the Minister of Defense Industry Yaver Jamalov at a Cabinet meeting on Sunday.

According to him, during the April battles against the Armenian forces weapons and ammunition of local production  were widely used - anti-tank rocket launchers, mortars and ammunition, sniper rifles, universal machine guns and others. Detection and destruction of enemy targets was carried out by drones also produced in Azerbaijan.

Currently seven companies have launched production in the country:

- Grenade launchers of Revolver type and their ammunition (40x46), as well as other grenade launchers;

- Firing sets of 4 types of rocket-propelled grenade launchers RRG-7V2;

- Mine fuses M-6 and M-12;

- Automatic guns and detonators of various types and caliber;

- Artillery shells and cannons of calibers 100, 122, 130, 152 and 155 mm (NATO standard), he said.

The Minister said that the construction of factories for the production of various types of gunpowder and explosives - ballistic and pyroxylin gunpowder, TNT and RDX, is continued;

- Fuses and warheads for artillery shells and tank guns;

- Starting powder devices for manufacturing ammunition for 60, 82 and 120 mm mortars.

In the first half year defense products in the amount of 192.2 million AZN were repaired and utilized.

The testing of several types of weapons has begun: special force machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, sniper rifles Istiglal-1T, fire sets for artillery and tank guns, rocket launchers and others.

The research institute of the ministry works on creation of bombs of various types, as well as medium-range, long-range and other missiles.

  Work is underway to build an armored car Tufan equipped with a remote weapon station, an anti-tank guided missile system, and electronic reconnaissance equipment. Preparation of the test sample of the armored vehicles is scheduled by year end.

There will be produced samples of new armored vehicles Ildirim and Gasirga, which will be presented at the upcoming exhibition ADEX-2016 in Baku. And their mass production will begin in 2017. Another new project is installation of the anti-tank guided missile type Mizrak on an armored personnel carrier BRDM-2M. This fighting machine in the near future will also be handed over to the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

Work is underway to increase exports and replace imports by local production, Jamalov said. In particular, exports of various types of ammunition, small arms, sniper rifles, and drones to America, Europe, Asia and Africa are presumed. The cost of the concluded contracts amounts to 106 million USD.

Tests of the Zarba drone went well and it will be handed over to the army. The device will control the strongholds of the enemy and can destroy them at any time, said in conclusion Yaver Jamalov. -02D-