Scouting fight
The aggravation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh showed weaknesses on both sides
Nagorno-Karabakh is a fairly closed territory, and the discourse on the quality of fortifications created by the NKR Defense Army over the 22 of the year were mainly theoretical. Recent events have allowed to evaluate all that has been created during this time.
The command of the army of defense (AO) of Nagorno-Karabakh was taken as the basis for the Israeli experience of organizing in case of a possible invasion of Syria in the Golan Heights region. At the same time, the positions as a whole were placed and strengthened in the manner prescribed in the Soviet manuals on engineering support and combat regulations.
NKR JSC paid great attention to facilities for tanks (both single cars and entire units). They, playing the role of moving firing points, became the basis of defense. Equipped positions allow you to quickly change the location, if necessary, and then come back.
Equally important was the preparation for action in the conditions of superiority of the enemy in the air. Defensive positions were filled with air defense systems, in particular, MANPADS and anti-aircraft guns ZU-23-2. Shooting at aerial targets were trained not only for large-caliber machine guns, but also for RPG-7, which proved to be highly effective in the fight against helicopters.
Initially, Azerbaijan was preparing to break into the defense of Nagorno-Karabakh, successively capturing each line of fortifications with assault infantry groups under cover of continuous massive artillery fire, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, as well as strikes aviation. Such a scenario fully satisfied the enemy - the NKR and the armed forces of Armenia. It is clear that the Azerbaijani military, bogging down the assault on defensive positions and incurring significant losses in personnel and equipment, could hardly capture the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh in the two-week plans laid down in combat plans.
Bid on technique
But at the end of 2000-s, Baku drastically changed its strategy, deciding not to arrange bloody battles for insignificant trenches and heights, but to inflict fire on the enemy to the entire depth of its defense, isolating the forward positions from the rear and quickly destroying them separately.
To solve this problem, Azerbaijan has begun serious purchases of weapons and military equipment. In particular, long-range self-propelled howitzers MSTA-S, 120-mm 2C31 “Vienna” and heavy flame-thrower systems were purchased in Russia. Baku purchased various artillery systems from the Russian Federation, Israel and even Turkey, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles, including such exotic ones as the one-time Khamop kamikaze.
One of the most expensive acquisitions was the Israeli anti-tank missile system Spike-NLOS (Spike-NLOS - non line of sight, hitting targets out of sight) capable of destroying armored vehicles, various buildings and field fortifications over a distance of 20 kilometers. The purchase of "Spikes", however, like the "Kharopov", was kept by Baku as a great military secret. So there is still no exact information on how many units of each system appeared in the army.
The leadership of Azerbaijan paid serious attention to armored vehicles, in particular the purchase of T-90 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles BMP-3. Judging by the video footage taken by the national television at the exercises, the military planned to use Russian vehicles as mobile firing points operating behind the combat formations of the infantry and stripping enemy positions with the help of not only high-explosive shells, but also tank guided missiles and anti-tank missiles.
Azerbaijani special forces received modern means of communication, equipment, means of protection and night vision devices. The main task of the commando was the adjustment of artillery fire in the rear of the enemy and night storming of fortified positions. Special Forces officers were appointed not only to take the object, but also to hold it with the support of artillery and military helicopters. Such tasks were worked out constantly, the interaction of special divisions with pilots and artillerymen was established at a sufficiently high level.
Plans and realities
The April battles developed according to the standard scenario for local conflicts. After the shootings, the situation on the front line began to deteriorate, and at some point one of the parties decided to strike. It is still not entirely clear exactly who went to the aggravation. But it cannot be denied that it was Baku who managed to pull up additional forces in advance, transfer helicopters to temporary sites and create a sufficiently strong artillery fist. In the night from 1 to 2 in April, the Azerbaijani military launched an offensive, using accumulated reserves.
In the area of the village of Talysh, in the north of the buffer zone, Azerbaijani commandos with a surprise attack took several Armenian positions. Another group of special forces entered directly into the settlement, where it came into contact with the fighters of the NKR.
Already after the end of the conflict, photographs of civilians killed during a night battle in the village became public knowledge. The Armenian side accuses the Azerbaijanis of deliberately shooting down the civilian population, as well as mocking the dead and the living. At the same time, photographic documents suggest that the commando attack was so sudden that the civilians did not have time to leave the battle zone, and the Armenian military could not repel the enemy’s attack.
True, the special forces in Talysh were not lucky - the superior forces of the defending enemy and the loss of the element of surprise forced them to move away. But on departure, the commandos came under fire from an automatic grenade launcher and were destroyed. According to other sources, pressed by fire, they were covered with mortars.
The actions of the special forces supported the Mi-24G helicopters (Gebe, Azerbaidzhan - “Night” - this is the name of the Super Hind helicopters in the Azerbaijani Air Force) from the 1 squadron “SkyWolf”. According to the available information, the squadron as a whole consists of six “twenty-fourths” who had undergone modernization, painted in the characteristic black color. It is the “heavenly wolves” who constantly work out joint actions with the special forces, for which they received the semi-official name of the “special operations squadron”.
At the positions of the NKR AO, recaptured by the commandos at night, units of the Azerbaijani infantry were supposed to approach in the morning. Covered movement, blocked enemy positions and prevented the approach of reserves by artillery, the fire of which was corrected Drones. But the Azerbaijani infantrymen, faced with shelling from the side of the uncaptured Armenian positions, could not change the commandos in time, who were forced to repulse the attacks of the NKR AO fighters early in the morning of April 2 in the light of the sun.
In local counterattacks, the special forces, having lost some of the previously occupied positions, still managed to hold several key heights. But the Azerbaijani military had to use the helicopters of the 1 squadron, one of which, the Mi-24G, was hit by an accurate shot from the RPG-7. Immediately after this loss, the command of the Azerbaijani Air Force suspended all flights in the battle zone.
The artillery involved by Baku, the drones, the long-range Spike anti-tank guided missile system showed themselves well, if they didn’t disrupt the enemy, seriously hampering the transfer of reserves and organizing counterattacks to the enemy. In particular, on the account of the shock of the Israeli "Haropov" bus with the Armenian military, as well as the likely liquidation of the battalion headquarters of the NKR joint-stock company. “Spikes” destroyed at least three Armenian tanks, and directly on the caponiers, from where they tried to bombard positions occupied by Azerbaijanis. Most likely, the targets were detected with the help of UAVs, which transmitted the image and coordinates directly to the ATGM calculation.
In order to prevent the NKR reserves from approaching possible nominations, Azerbaijan’s MLRS Smerch, Grad, 122-mm howitzer D-30, SAU 2С3, and also, according to some, 152-mm 2С19 attacked. The Karabakh artillery actively joined the fire confrontation, trying, first of all, to help its units, who were striving to return the positions lost at night from 1 to 2 in April.
But despite all the efforts of the NKR fighters, the Azerbaijani military managed to hold their positions until the cease-fire decision, which became the subject of national pride and loud statements by the military-political leadership of the country.
We should also dwell on the use of tanks by both sides. There was no wall-to-wall fighting during the transient conflict. Both sides used tanks as mobile firing points. A unit of Azerbaijani armored vehicles hit a mine, and several Armenian T-72, as stated above, were victims of artillery and long-range "Spikes"
Toys are expensive now
The April battles showed the army of Nagorno-Karabakh that it was much more difficult to hold out for the appointed two weeks. Tanks as a basis, even operating in well-trained positions, are victims of long-range "Spikes" and conventional artillery. It should be noted that Baku did not use the most formidable attack weapon against fortifications - heavy flamethrower systems "Solntsepek", which, as experience shows in Syria, even well-fortified bunkers can do.
Long-range howitzers and MLRSs, whose actions were corrected by drones, in mountainous terrain, where the number of possible approaches to the reserves approach is limited, although they did not paralyze efforts, they created serious difficulties for the NKR command.
It was the continuous strikes of artillery and long-range ATGM on the positions of the NKR units that did not allow the command of the defense army of Nagorno-Karabakh to accumulate enough funds to dislodge the Azerbaijanis from their positions.
But not everything is so smooth for the armed forces of Baku. Their weak link traditionally remains personnel, especially in the infantry. Even the unarmed fire of Armenian units stopped its movement in the morning of April 2.
In the battles, the high-moral qualities did not always demonstrate the units of the Azerbaijani special forces. In particular, the departure from the village of Talysh was more like an escape.
Yes, due to a higher technical level, the Azerbaijani military were able to achieve some success. But the question arises about the price of victory. For four days, in fact, local battles for several heights of Baku spent quite a lot of expensive "toys", in particular, the Kharop long-range Spike missile. This is not counting the shot ammunition for the MLRS and howitzers. One Mi-24G helicopter and several UAVs have been lost. So the stake of the NKR leadership on the in-depth training of their servicemen for fighting air targets turned out to be justified. "Twenty-fourth" shot down an accurate shot from an RPG, while the UAVs were victims of small-arms fire, ZU-23-2 and large-caliber machine guns.
The experience of the April battles showed: Azerbaijan has found a way to get out of the positional impasse in Nagorno-Karabakh, but such hostilities require very serious material resources and high-tech weapons. But even the use of WTO and artillery does not relieve the Azerbaijani military from the need to take the stance of a well-motivated enemy with much higher moral and volitional qualities and ready to conduct close combat to the last.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a fairly closed territory, and the discourse on the quality of fortifications created by the NKR Defense Army over the 22 of the year were mainly theoretical. Recent events have allowed to evaluate all that has been created during this time.
The command of the army of defense (AO) of Nagorno-Karabakh was taken as the basis for the Israeli experience of organizing in case of a possible invasion of Syria in the Golan Heights region. At the same time, the positions as a whole were placed and strengthened in the manner prescribed in the Soviet manuals on engineering support and combat regulations.
NKR JSC paid great attention to facilities for tanks (both single cars and entire units). They, playing the role of moving firing points, became the basis of defense. Equipped positions allow you to quickly change the location, if necessary, and then come back.
Equally important was the preparation for action in the conditions of superiority of the enemy in the air. Defensive positions were filled with air defense systems, in particular, MANPADS and anti-aircraft guns ZU-23-2. Shooting at aerial targets were trained not only for large-caliber machine guns, but also for RPG-7, which proved to be highly effective in the fight against helicopters.
Initially, Azerbaijan was preparing to break into the defense of Nagorno-Karabakh, successively capturing each line of fortifications with assault infantry groups under cover of continuous massive artillery fire, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, as well as strikes aviation. Such a scenario fully satisfied the enemy - the NKR and the armed forces of Armenia. It is clear that the Azerbaijani military, bogging down the assault on defensive positions and incurring significant losses in personnel and equipment, could hardly capture the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh in the two-week plans laid down in combat plans.
Bid on technique
But at the end of 2000-s, Baku drastically changed its strategy, deciding not to arrange bloody battles for insignificant trenches and heights, but to inflict fire on the enemy to the entire depth of its defense, isolating the forward positions from the rear and quickly destroying them separately.
To solve this problem, Azerbaijan has begun serious purchases of weapons and military equipment. In particular, long-range self-propelled howitzers MSTA-S, 120-mm 2C31 “Vienna” and heavy flame-thrower systems were purchased in Russia. Baku purchased various artillery systems from the Russian Federation, Israel and even Turkey, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles, including such exotic ones as the one-time Khamop kamikaze.One of the most expensive acquisitions was the Israeli anti-tank missile system Spike-NLOS (Spike-NLOS - non line of sight, hitting targets out of sight) capable of destroying armored vehicles, various buildings and field fortifications over a distance of 20 kilometers. The purchase of "Spikes", however, like the "Kharopov", was kept by Baku as a great military secret. So there is still no exact information on how many units of each system appeared in the army.
The leadership of Azerbaijan paid serious attention to armored vehicles, in particular the purchase of T-90 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles BMP-3. Judging by the video footage taken by the national television at the exercises, the military planned to use Russian vehicles as mobile firing points operating behind the combat formations of the infantry and stripping enemy positions with the help of not only high-explosive shells, but also tank guided missiles and anti-tank missiles.
Azerbaijani special forces received modern means of communication, equipment, means of protection and night vision devices. The main task of the commando was the adjustment of artillery fire in the rear of the enemy and night storming of fortified positions. Special Forces officers were appointed not only to take the object, but also to hold it with the support of artillery and military helicopters. Such tasks were worked out constantly, the interaction of special divisions with pilots and artillerymen was established at a sufficiently high level.
Plans and realities
The April battles developed according to the standard scenario for local conflicts. After the shootings, the situation on the front line began to deteriorate, and at some point one of the parties decided to strike. It is still not entirely clear exactly who went to the aggravation. But it cannot be denied that it was Baku who managed to pull up additional forces in advance, transfer helicopters to temporary sites and create a sufficiently strong artillery fist. In the night from 1 to 2 in April, the Azerbaijani military launched an offensive, using accumulated reserves.
In the area of the village of Talysh, in the north of the buffer zone, Azerbaijani commandos with a surprise attack took several Armenian positions. Another group of special forces entered directly into the settlement, where it came into contact with the fighters of the NKR.Already after the end of the conflict, photographs of civilians killed during a night battle in the village became public knowledge. The Armenian side accuses the Azerbaijanis of deliberately shooting down the civilian population, as well as mocking the dead and the living. At the same time, photographic documents suggest that the commando attack was so sudden that the civilians did not have time to leave the battle zone, and the Armenian military could not repel the enemy’s attack.
True, the special forces in Talysh were not lucky - the superior forces of the defending enemy and the loss of the element of surprise forced them to move away. But on departure, the commandos came under fire from an automatic grenade launcher and were destroyed. According to other sources, pressed by fire, they were covered with mortars.
The actions of the special forces supported the Mi-24G helicopters (Gebe, Azerbaidzhan - “Night” - this is the name of the Super Hind helicopters in the Azerbaijani Air Force) from the 1 squadron “SkyWolf”. According to the available information, the squadron as a whole consists of six “twenty-fourths” who had undergone modernization, painted in the characteristic black color. It is the “heavenly wolves” who constantly work out joint actions with the special forces, for which they received the semi-official name of the “special operations squadron”.
At the positions of the NKR AO, recaptured by the commandos at night, units of the Azerbaijani infantry were supposed to approach in the morning. Covered movement, blocked enemy positions and prevented the approach of reserves by artillery, the fire of which was corrected Drones. But the Azerbaijani infantrymen, faced with shelling from the side of the uncaptured Armenian positions, could not change the commandos in time, who were forced to repulse the attacks of the NKR AO fighters early in the morning of April 2 in the light of the sun.
In local counterattacks, the special forces, having lost some of the previously occupied positions, still managed to hold several key heights. But the Azerbaijani military had to use the helicopters of the 1 squadron, one of which, the Mi-24G, was hit by an accurate shot from the RPG-7. Immediately after this loss, the command of the Azerbaijani Air Force suspended all flights in the battle zone.
The artillery involved by Baku, the drones, the long-range Spike anti-tank guided missile system showed themselves well, if they didn’t disrupt the enemy, seriously hampering the transfer of reserves and organizing counterattacks to the enemy. In particular, on the account of the shock of the Israeli "Haropov" bus with the Armenian military, as well as the likely liquidation of the battalion headquarters of the NKR joint-stock company. “Spikes” destroyed at least three Armenian tanks, and directly on the caponiers, from where they tried to bombard positions occupied by Azerbaijanis. Most likely, the targets were detected with the help of UAVs, which transmitted the image and coordinates directly to the ATGM calculation.
In order to prevent the NKR reserves from approaching possible nominations, Azerbaijan’s MLRS Smerch, Grad, 122-mm howitzer D-30, SAU 2С3, and also, according to some, 152-mm 2С19 attacked. The Karabakh artillery actively joined the fire confrontation, trying, first of all, to help its units, who were striving to return the positions lost at night from 1 to 2 in April.
But despite all the efforts of the NKR fighters, the Azerbaijani military managed to hold their positions until the cease-fire decision, which became the subject of national pride and loud statements by the military-political leadership of the country.
We should also dwell on the use of tanks by both sides. There was no wall-to-wall fighting during the transient conflict. Both sides used tanks as mobile firing points. A unit of Azerbaijani armored vehicles hit a mine, and several Armenian T-72, as stated above, were victims of artillery and long-range "Spikes"
Toys are expensive now
The April battles showed the army of Nagorno-Karabakh that it was much more difficult to hold out for the appointed two weeks. Tanks as a basis, even operating in well-trained positions, are victims of long-range "Spikes" and conventional artillery. It should be noted that Baku did not use the most formidable attack weapon against fortifications - heavy flamethrower systems "Solntsepek", which, as experience shows in Syria, even well-fortified bunkers can do.
Long-range howitzers and MLRSs, whose actions were corrected by drones, in mountainous terrain, where the number of possible approaches to the reserves approach is limited, although they did not paralyze efforts, they created serious difficulties for the NKR command.
It was the continuous strikes of artillery and long-range ATGM on the positions of the NKR units that did not allow the command of the defense army of Nagorno-Karabakh to accumulate enough funds to dislodge the Azerbaijanis from their positions.
But not everything is so smooth for the armed forces of Baku. Their weak link traditionally remains personnel, especially in the infantry. Even the unarmed fire of Armenian units stopped its movement in the morning of April 2.
In the battles, the high-moral qualities did not always demonstrate the units of the Azerbaijani special forces. In particular, the departure from the village of Talysh was more like an escape.
Yes, due to a higher technical level, the Azerbaijani military were able to achieve some success. But the question arises about the price of victory. For four days, in fact, local battles for several heights of Baku spent quite a lot of expensive "toys", in particular, the Kharop long-range Spike missile. This is not counting the shot ammunition for the MLRS and howitzers. One Mi-24G helicopter and several UAVs have been lost. So the stake of the NKR leadership on the in-depth training of their servicemen for fighting air targets turned out to be justified. "Twenty-fourth" shot down an accurate shot from an RPG, while the UAVs were victims of small-arms fire, ZU-23-2 and large-caliber machine guns.
The experience of the April battles showed: Azerbaijan has found a way to get out of the positional impasse in Nagorno-Karabakh, but such hostilities require very serious material resources and high-tech weapons. But even the use of WTO and artillery does not relieve the Azerbaijani military from the need to take the stance of a well-motivated enemy with much higher moral and volitional qualities and ready to conduct close combat to the last.
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