Azerbaijan seeks to buy more advanced weapons from Israel

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon began a two-day visit to Azerbaijan on Wednesday aiming to bolster burgeoning ties with its strategic and defense trade partner that conveniently borders northeast Iran.

Ya’alon’s visit, the first by an Israeli MoD chief in 22 years of diplomatic relations between the Jewish and Muslim states, comes less than a month after Iran claimed to have shot down an Israeli-made UAV that reportedly took off from Azerbaijan.

It also coincides with ADEX-2014, the first international arms exhibition hosted by Baku, where 16 Israeli firms and MoD export officials will market a full spectrum of air, sea, land and space systems.

At a Wednesday meeting with Azerbaijan President llham Aliyev, Ya’alon characterized bilateral ties as “fruitful,” and noted that the two countries were engaged in broad-based strategic cooperation.

“I’m happy to be hosted here in the first historic visit by an Israeli defense minister to Azerbaijan,” Ya’alon said. “We have bilateral strategic relations and cooperation in different areas.”

With nearly $4 billion in arms deals over the past three years and commitments by Baku’s government to grow its defense industrial base, Azerbaijan has rapidly risen to the top ranks of Israeli export markets.

Since 2012, Baku has purchased at least $1.6 billion worth of UAVs, radars and air defense missiles from state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and is talking about buying or leasing IAI-produced spy satellites.

From state-owned Rafael, the Azerbaijani military has acquired Spike anti-tank missiles and targeting systems.

Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest non-state-owned defense firm, has been operating a local subsidiary, Elbit Systems of Azerbaijan, since 2009. Prominent deals in recent years include the Cardom self-propelled recoiling mortar and advanced upgrades to the Russian-made T-72 tanks.

In a Wednesday announcement of the two-day trade show to begin tomorrow in Baku, ADEX-2014 organizers said the event was initiated and supported by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of the Defence Industry and Ministry of Defence.

“The idea for the creation of a military exhibition was born out of the success of the defence industry in recent years. Economic progress in all sectors of the economy established the role of Azerbaijan as an important player and strategic partner on the regional and international markets,” it said.

“The military industrial complex of Azerbaijan has implemented a number of major projects and has had a major increase in its capabilities,” event organizers wrote.

According to the announcement, Azerbaijan is involved in indigenous or licensed production of some 900 defense products and systems, including “all types of ammunition, machinery and weaponry.”

“A strong state needs a strong army,” event organizers wrote.

Ya’alon’s visit follows high-level talks in April by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Leiberman, the third by Israel’s top diplomat since 2010. In April 2013, Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mamadyarov held meetings in Israel with the country’s top leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ya’alon.

Rapidly expanding security ties between Israel and Azerbaijan have antagonized Iran, where some 25 million Azeris form the country’s largest minority, noted Michael Segall, a retired colonel in the Israel Defense Forces.

In a paper published last year by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Segall cited Tehran’s concern about covert cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan, and the potential for Baku to serve as forward base for an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites.

“Iran views the ‘Israeli threat’ as the most tangible of all, both in terms of a platform for a military attack and a base for intelligence gathering and special operations against Iran, which claims the assassins of its nuclear scientists came from Azerbaijan,” Segall wrote.