Armenia signed a contract for the acquisition of precision rifles with the French company PGM on Friday as well as a letter of intent for the training of Armenian officers, as Yerevan seeks to reduce its dependence on Moscow.
“Armenia has adopted the idea of modernizing the army, we will use our own means and the help of partner states, it is about being able to use all the tools of peace to defend its borders
,” he said. declared Armenian Defense Minister Souren Papikian during a press conference alongside French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu.
The amount of this acquisition was not specified.
France has also committed to training five Armenian soldiers at the Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan Military Academy and offered its support for the training of non-commissioned officers.
The French minister confirmed that France would deploy a military advisor specializing in ground-air defense to help Armenia protect itself
from “possible strikes by potential aggressors”
against civilians.
Armenia
“turns to partners who are truly security providers
,” he added during the press conference, in response to a question on the weakened ties between Yerevan and Moscow, its historic ally.
Letter of intent between France and Armenia
Armenia has begun a process of reforming its armed forces according to Soviet doctrine and standards.
Cooperation with France, which dates after the 2020 war lost by Armenia against Azerbaijan, has entered its
“practical phase”
and is
“already systemic in nature and large-scale
,” according to Souren Papikian.
Paris fears a new military escalation with Azerbaijan, Yerevan's historic rival in this troubled region of the Caucasus.
France and Armenia have already signed a letter of intent in the fall on air defense, including the acquisition of three Ground Master radars (GM200) from Thalès, making it possible to detect an enemy aircraft 250 km away. , and night vision binoculars, manufactured by Safran and delivered on Thursday.
Azerbaijan completely reconquered last September, during a lightning offensive, the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, supported by Armenia, after three decades of conflict.
But clashes still take place regularly between the Armenian and Azerbaijani armies, who accused each other in mid-February of having carried out shooting at their border which had killed four Armenian soldiers, according to Yerevan.