Colonel Khodarenok called the transition of the Armenian army to the Swiss model logical
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the country is reforming the army based on international experience. Yerevan intends to bring the Armenian Armed Forces to the Swiss model. Whether Pashinyan will be able to cope with such a task and what kind of armed forces Armenia needs, the military columnist of "Gazeta.En" Mikhail Khodarenok.
"Large-scale reforms are being carried out in the Armenian armed forces, taking into account international experience," Pashinyan said. The country has introduced 24-day military training camps in order to train reservists in minimal military skills. The Swiss model is supposed to be used as a model in Armenia.
To begin with, let us recall what the model of this Alpine state is. The Swiss Armed Forces are organized on the basis of mixed (contract-conscription or on a voluntary basis and conscription) the method of completing the aircraft. The armed forces of the Confederation consist of only two types of armed forces: the ground forces and the air force. The ground forces consist of three mechanized brigades, as well as auxiliary units and training units.
Service in the armed forces is mandatory for all male citizens of the confederation and is usually 260 days, distributed over 10 years. Swiss conscripts keep their service firearms and ammunition at home, but they were banned from storing ammunition at home in 2007.
Now let's return to the innovations of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. On the one hand, it seems that the leader of the state enters the sphere of military construction clearly from the wrong door.
Whatever it was, the armed forces of any country are an instrument of war. And only for this one purpose are they intended. The army is either fighting or preparing for war. Any third state for the military organization of the state is excluded by definition.
To begin with, Nikol Pashinyan probably should have voiced quite specific requirements for preparing his country and the Armed Forces to repel possible aggression, about the methods and forms of warfare in general, and only then proceed to the practical activities of the country's political leadership and the supreme military command in the field of military construction. At the same time, of course, it is necessary to rely on the economic, military, moral and psychological capabilities of the state and society.
At the same time, it would be naive to believe that these basic truths are unknown to Nikol Pashinyan's cabinet. Here the matter is different.
Alignment of forces
The population of Armenia is less than 3 million people (besides, it is not growing, but is permanently decreasing). The state's military budget is approximately $1.5 billion. This money will not buy even one squadron of multifunctional F-16 Block 70/72 fighters (the price of one aircraft is significantly more than $ 150 million).
As for Armenia's closest neighbors, these figures are as follows: the population of Azerbaijan is 10 million people, the military budget is $3.1 billion, the population of Turkey is 85.3 million people, the military budget is $15.842 billion.
Considering that the thesis "one people - two states" is constantly voiced in Baku and Ankara, the situation for Yerevan looks frankly threatening.
A radically different solution is needed here.
When assessing the situation and all other related circumstances, it should be taken into account that not so long ago Armenia lost Nagorno-Karabakh. In September 2023, Azerbaijan achieved all the objectives of the operation in Nagorno-Karabakh in just one day. Neither Russia nor the CSTO have shown themselves in any way in this situation. Moscow and the CSTO did not help Yerevan in any way in the Second Karabakh War either.
The course for joining NATO
In this regard, Armenia believes that Russia and the CSTO cannot ensure the national security of the republic. And since it is impossible to rely on them, then Yerevan believes that something needs to be changed, and at the same time radically - both the military bloc and the main ally. At the same time, the loss of Karabakh will be a bleeding wound for Armenia, which will remain in the people's memory for the next hundred years, if not more.
At the same time, Yerevan does not consider it expedient to voice its military-political intentions at the top of its voice and in detail at this stage. Apparently, the geopolitical and geostrategic vectors and the sequence of steps for Armenia will look in the near future as follows: normalization of relations with its closest neighbors - Azerbaijan and Turkey; gradual withdrawal from Moscow and withdrawal from the CSTO; a course towards joining NATO.
That is, any armed confrontation with Ankara and Baku is not included in the plans of the Armenian leadership today. That is, there is no longer any need for Armenia to rattle weapons and continue military construction, as before. The task of "recapture Karabakh!" for the coming decades is not worth it.
With such installations, the Swiss model is quite suitable for the armed forces of the country. And after Armenia's hypothetical entry into NATO, the combat and numerical strength of its army in general may well be limited to several battalions. So Nikol Pashinyan's statements about the transition of his army to the Swiss model in such conditions look quite logical.
Unless the distribution of service firearms and ammunition to Armenian servicemen and their subsequent storage at home can easily lead to loss (sale) both the first and the second. For the unconditional safety of weapons, bulletproof vests, steel helmets, flasks, duffel bags and everything else, of course, it is necessary to have the discipline and organization of citizens of the Swiss Confederation. There is reason to doubt that Armenian conscripts have already achieved similar indicators. There is still a lot of work to be done on this issue. But this is probably the only obstacle to the introduction of 24-day military training for the Armenian Armed Forces.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for the newspaper.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy Commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist of "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier" (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
