Azerbaijan's military might is only guarantor of peace in region

The military parade on the occasion of Victory Day on November 8 was not just a solemn event, but also a clear demonstration of the profound changes that have taken place in the sphere of Azerbaijan's national security.

Everyone watched the parade and remembers the impression made by the passage of military units and samples of military equipment in service with the Armed Forces of the country. The presented samples of modern military equipment and new combat units have become a symbol of consistent and systematic work to strengthen Azerbaijan's defense capability. And the intrigue lies in the fact that not everything that our army is armed with today was shown at the parade. Some of the weapons have been demonstrated, some have not yet been demonstrated, but the time will come, President Ilham Aliyev said in a recent interview with TV channels.

Over the past five years, Azerbaijan has not stood still. On the contrary, Victory became the starting point for a large-scale modernization of the Armed Forces. In the rapidly changing geopolitical situation, the country's leadership has relied on technological modernization of the army, improving the quality of management, developing mobility and precision of combat capabilities. As a result, the Azerbaijani army today has a disproportionately higher level of combat readiness than during the Patriotic War.

Without going into details, the President put it this way: "In any case, we have significantly increased our potential. If we compare the Azerbaijani army in terms of weapons and combat capability today and when we won the Patriotic War, we are several times stronger today. I think this assessment is sufficient to characterize. I won't say how many times, but several times. And this, of course, gives us confidence in our abilities."

Although Baku does not shout about its military might on every corner, it is precisely this paucity of information about the real capabilities of our armed forces that makes everyone keep their distance. No one doubts that this power is real after the 2020 war. It is also known that Azerbaijan is increasing its defense budget, and these billions are used for specific purposes. Azerbaijan is building, or rather strengthening, a combat-ready army. Not because he's preparing for war. President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly stressed that we are not going to fight, but events in the world are changing every day, and we need to be prepared for anything. Although, as the head of state emphasizes, our wars are in the past. Everything that Azerbaijan achieved in the five post-war years was not the result of escalation, but a combination of force, diplomacy and political will. The way the world works, the force component is especially important here. New regional realities have been formed, which are now perceived by the international community as an objective fact.

Today's world is really full of surprises and, unfortunately, not pleasant ones. A stable and just peace is possible only with a strong army and a reliable security system. That is why, in parallel with diplomatic efforts, the process of rearmament, the creation of new military formations and the introduction of advanced technologies has been going on for five years.

Azerbaijan is not only acquiring weapons, but also developing its own military-industrial complex. If at first it was only an effort to reduce dependence on imports, now the country's military-industrial complex products have become one of the export positions. As the President of Azerbaijan noted, unfortunately, the number of wars in the world is growing, and accordingly, the demand for military products is growing. Prices for weapons are also rising rapidly. First of all, for ammunition. Therefore, the head of state believes, it can become an alternative source of currency for us.

Given the rising prices of weapons in the world, the revenues of the Azerbaijani military-industrial complex will also grow. Prices are really rising against the background of the ongoing war in Ukraine. At the 71st session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly held in Slovenia, it was reported that since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, prices on the global arms market have increased several times. For example: Grad missiles have increased in price by 7 times, tank shells - by 6.2 times, artillery shells - by 4 times, tanks - by 1.3 times.

The President has set a short-term goal to increase exports to one billion dollars. The Head of State is confident that this is a realistic goal, and it can be achieved in three to four years. Moreover, there is interest in the products of the Azerbaijani military-industrial complex from foreign companies.

It should be noted that in 2024-2025, $1 billion was invested in the defense industry of Azerbaijan. In 2025, the country's military-industrial complex sold products worth 1.38 billion manats, of which one billion accounted for exports. Today, 17 countries are acquiring Azerbaijani-made weapons. Licenses for the production of defense products were issued to 15 companies. It is expected that the volume of private sector investments in this area will soon exceed 1 billion manats. The volume of sales in 2026 is expected to exceed 420 million manats.

In December, the Military Industrial Complex of Azerbaijan celebrated its professional holiday. At an event dedicated to this date, Defense Industry Minister Vugar Mustafayev noted that in order to promptly and efficiently meet the needs of the armed Forces, large-scale modernization works are being carried out at enterprises of the Azerbaijani defense industry, production facilities are being updated, and the level of digitalization and automation is increasing. As a result of the increased production capacities of the plants, timely and high-quality fulfillment of state defense orders is ensured, as well as the export potential is expanding. Currently, 15 private licensed companies operate in the defense industry in Azerbaijan. They produce electronics, electronic warfare equipment, missile systems and other high-tech products, as well as conduct research in the field of artificial intelligence. The products of a number of private companies have already been transferred to the armed forces as part of a government order.

According to the agency, the state order has been fulfilled by 97 percent.

By the way, on December 16, 2025, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan turned 20 years old.

Comparing the state of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces during the Second Karabakh War and today, military experts speak of unprecedented qualitative growth. Undoubtedly, this fact gives us all confidence. Let's not talk about the world as a whole, but regionally, Azerbaijan's military might is a real force capable of guaranteeing stability on our borders.  

Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Karabakh War has been recognized by the world, and no one has any doubts or questions about its legitimacy. Azerbaijan's actions were self-defensive and fully consistent with international law. That is why the realities formed after the war were recognized by the world community. This is all that Azerbaijan needed. He no longer wants to fight, he has fulfilled his task by ensuring his integrity and sovereignty, he does not claim anyone's lands. But the reality is that only force can guarantee security. Therefore, he continues to buy weapons, continues to modernize the army and increase combat training.

International law has operated intermittently before, but today this mechanism for maintaining peace and order no longer works. Therefore, each country should think about its own security on its own. For Azerbaijan, a strong, modern and high-tech army is not an instrument of war, but a guarantee that wars in our region will truly remain a relic of the past.