La differenza tra i servizi di guardia di frontiera di Armenia e Azerbaigian

I’ve seen the notion expressed on this subreddit and elsewhere that the replacement of regular army units on the border by border guards will bring improved safety, reduced cross-fire incidents, and even signify the use of only small arms on the border. I don’t entirely discount that, but I think that sentiment should be cautioned given the heavily militarized nature of the Azeri border guards.

The key highlights in this article are that the Azeri border service operates equipment including attack helicopters, loitering munitions (aka kamikaze drones), and rocket launcher systems. The article makes the assertion that the Armenian border service does *not* operate comparable equipment (though both sides do operate IFV/APC vehicles), which is concerning if true given the imbalance that will be present, more than between the regular Armenian and Azeri military.

I will also add the relevant note that to my understanding, it is the the Azerbaijani *border service* is the one which launched an operation to kill 4 Armenian solders in February. https://www.dw.com/en/armenia-says-azerbaijan-killed-4-soldiers-amid-peace-talks/a-68242435. Notably, this is one of the only lethal border clashes to my memory since the fall of Artsakh in September.

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Excerpts from the fip.am article:

> Studies show that the border guard services of Armenia and Azerbaijan are completely different in terms of weapons and training.

>The rapid response forces of the State Border Guard Service of Azerbaijan…this unit is also called “green berets.” In 2020, during the 44-day war, the above-mentioned unit actively participated in military operations.

> According to the 2020 study of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the armament of the Azerbaijan Border Guard Service includes infantry fighting vehicles (BMP-1/BMP-2), armored personnel carriers (BTR-60/70/80), rocket launchers (122mm 3 T-122), attack helicopters (24 Mi-35M Hind) and unmanned aerial vehicles (Medium Hermes 900).

> According to the 2021 study of the same institute, the armament of the border guard service of Azerbaijan was supplemented with “Hermes 450” and “Harop” type drones.