More Anti-Tank Missiles Appear In Azerbaijan

While there’s marginal value in following the media trail of President Ilham Aliyev the armed forces, along with the equipment for the armed forces and security apparatus, form the pillars upholding the Azerbaijani state. It’s no surprise that even smaller formations such as the State Border Service are lavished with impressive kit. But a routine visit in August uncovered a very interesting weapon system: It appears the small base in the country’s western region has a fleet of Turkish-made Otokar Cobra 4×4’s armed with Ukrainian-Belarusian anti-tank missile launchers. Since only one photo reveals this the shape and color of the ATGMs conforms to the Belarusian Shershen rather than its Ukrainian predecessor, the Skif, now re-branded as the Stugna-P.

For Belarus to supply Azerbaijan with anti-tank missiles is uncontroversial; bilateral ties are now in their fourth decade and arms sales are a common feature. Azerbaijan’s ground force are recognized as the first operators of the Belarusian Polonez rocket artillery system whose munitions are based on Chinese technology. As for the Shershen ATGM its service with the border guard could reflect its performance characteristics since the army have switched to non-line-of-sight or NLOS ATGMs. The Shershen relies on a bulky day/night rangefinder and launches beam-riding anti-tank missile as far as 5.5 kilometers. (At least three different missiles can be loaded on it although it’s common for the 130mm caliber to be exported.) An impressive feature of both the Shershen and the Ukrainian Stugna-P is a small control panel kept in a box and plugged to the launcher via cable. The control panel has a small screen giving the operator a live feed of the targeting and launch stages.

Belarus’ arms exports aren’t very transparent but there’s always demand from Russia and various Asian countries. Shershen ATGMs in particular have been exported to Turkmenistan and there’s no doubt more opportunities are on the horizon. As for the Shershen’s origins in Ukraine there’s still hope for that country’s armaments sector as its clientele is diverse. After all, lightweight Ukrainian Korsar ATGMs are assembled in Poland and Jordan in small quantities. A critical selling point for Belarusian/Ukrainian missiles are their respective manufacturers can design a complete weapon station, even with multiple armaments, to adapt the launchers for a specific vehicle. This fresh example from Azerbaijan’s border guards shows its seamless pairing with an Otokar Cobra, which is based on the chassis of an AM General Humvee.

It’s well-known how Baku doesn’t scrimp on the border guards who have a significant arsenal of large caliber weapons and even a stockpile of loitering munitions such as the Israeli-made Harop and SkyStriker. The Shershen ATGMs acquired for the border guards, however, joins an expanding list of anti-tank missiles purchased from Israel (Spike LR2, Spike ER2) and Russia (Konkurs, Kornet, Khrizantema-S). It’s not out of the question for Azerbaijan to collect more anti-tank missiles in the near future from its current allies and perhaps assemble these locally–the production of unguided ordnance and optoelectronics have flourished in the past decade alone.

When Pres. Aliyev did visit the border guards’ base in August the armored vehicle fleet put on display was interesting too. A longstanding alliance with Türkiye is reflected in the Otokar Land Rover and Cobra armored trucks. But joining them were a few units of the Inkas Titan-S. Having many different armored trucks is essential for Azerbaijan’s internal security as it’s still locked in a bitter conflict with Armenia. The demands of local terrain as well as regional politics makes wheeled APCs essential for the army and other security formations who face a determined opponent.