Armenia gets new air defense and artillery systems from India

Armenia’s Ministry of Defense on Saturday publicly displayed newly acquired weapons procured under contracts with India’s defense industry, unveiling air defense systems, rocket artillery, tube artillery, and unmanned platforms during an official demonstration in Armenia.

According to reporting by Militarnyi, the showcase included Indian-made Akash-1S medium-range surface-to-air missile systems, Pinaka multiple launch rocket systems, and 155mm artillery platforms delivered as part of Yerevan’s recent diversification of arms suppliers.

The Ministry of Defense presented the Akash-1S as a core element of Armenia’s reinforced air defense layer.

The system is designed to protect military units and strategic facilities and is capable of engaging aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise missiles at ranges of up to 30 kilometers, according to publicly available specifications referenced in the report.

In the artillery segment, Armenian forces demonstrated the Pinaka multiple launch rocket system. The system uses standardized launch modules and can fire both guided and unguided rockets, with a maximum range of up to 75 kilometers depending on the munition type.

Militarnyi reported that the Pinaka platform has drawn interest beyond South Asia, including consideration by the French Armed Forces as a potential procurement option.

The demonstration also included the 155mm Trajan towed howitzer, notable for its integrated auxiliary power unit. This feature allows the gun to reposition over short distances without a towing vehicle or manual effort from the crew. Alongside Trajan, Armenia displayed the MArG 155 self-propelled artillery system, a lightweight and mobile howitzer developed by India’s Bharat Forge.

The Trajan howitzer was originally designed by France’s Nexter, now operating as KNDS France, while serial production is carried out by Bharat Forge for domestic use and export customers, including Armenia.

Commenting on the acquisitions, defense analyst Leonid Nersisyan told Defence Blog: “Indian artillery assets, procured after September 2022 borderline war with Azerbaijan allowed Armenia to overcome its losses from the 2020 Second Karabakh war, as well as to add capabilities. That’s because systems being procured are modern 155mm howitzers, with firing range over 40km. Systems like Pinaka MLRS are also adding new capabilities to indirect fires, as they have higher range and even guided missiles with range of 75km. Air defence also got a capability boost in mid range, after procurement of Akash-S1 SAMs, and that domain was traditionally weak in Armenia previously. What is important, most of the new weapons allow digital integration into Armed Forces C2 (developed locally), which is another capability growth.”

Nersisyan added that cooperation with India, France, and other partners has reduced Armenia’s reliance on Russian-supplied weapons.

“In overall, cooperation with India, France and some other countries helped Armenia to overcome the total dependency in Russian armaments and at this point those are fully replaced after a huge diversification effort from Yerevan,” he said.