India[8] France[8][9] China[10] Bulgaria[10] Serbia[10] Ukraine[11] The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia[13] (Armenian: Հայաստանի Հանրապետության զինված ուժեր, romanized: Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan zinvats uzher, abbreviated ՀՀ ԶՈՒ, HH ZU), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Army (հայկական բանակ, haykakan banak), is the national military of Armenia.

Armenian officials have consistently expressed determination to comply with its provisions and thus Armenia has provided data on armaments as required under the CFE Treaty.

It must develop these newer formations to support its international requirements and effectively operate in mountainous and other rugged terrain, but it must do this without affecting the mechanised capability that is needed to confront Azerbaijan's conventional forces.

[35] Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia has followed a policy of developing its armed forces into a professional, well trained, and mobile military.

[36] CSTO Secretary, Nikolay Bordyuzha, came to a similar conclusion after collective military drills in 2007 when he stated that, "the Armenian Army is the most efficient one in the post-Soviet space".

[37] This was echoed more recently by Igor Korotchenko, a member of the Public Council, Russian Ministry of Defense, in a March 2011 interview with Voice of Russia radio.

They deal with planning and reservist preparation, armaments and equipment storage, training of formations for active forces rotation or increase in personnel.

They become part of multinational military formations in compliance with international treaties Armenia is a signatory to, participate in the preparation of the population, the national economy and the maintenance of wartime reserves and the infrastructure of the country for defense.

In case of low- and medium-intensity military conflict the Active Forces that are part of the Army participate in carrying out the initial tasks for the defense of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.

In late December 2010, the Armenian Defense Minister, Seyran Ohanyan, officially acknowledged that the army are equipped with the Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missiles.

The statement was made while the Minister was inspecting a new air-defense command point that maintains "state-of-the-art equipment" built specifically for the operation of the S-300's.

[41] The Karabakh army's heavy military hardware included: 316 tanks, 324 armored vehicles, 322 artillery pieces of calibers over 122 mm, 44 multiple rocket launchers, and a new anti-aircraft defense system.

[citation needed] The Artsakh Defence Army was disbanded on 21 September 2023 under the terms of Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement following the 2023 Azerbaijani military offensive on the territory.

"[64] The Erato Detachment was the first all-women military unit in the Armenian Armed Forces,[61] being created after of clashes between the Azerbaijani Army and Armenia occurred in July 2020.

[61] Anna Hakobyan, the wife of the current Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, underwent a week long combat readiness program with women from the Republic of Artsakh who joined the unit.

In 1997, the two countries signed a far-reaching friendship treaty, which calls for mutual assistance in the event of a military threat to either party and allows Russian border guards to patrol Armenia's frontiers with Turkey and Iran.

Russia also supplies weapons at the relatively lower prices of the Russian domestic market as part of a collective security agreement since January 2004.

[75] At the first meeting of the joint Russian-Armenian government panel for military-technical cooperation that took place during autumn 2005, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov reported that, Russian factories will participate in the Armenian program of military modernization, and that Russia is prepared to supply the necessary spare parts and equipment.

The export agreement was signed by Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and a visiting senior Russian official, Konstantin Biryulin, during a meeting of a Russian-Armenian inter-governmental commission on bilateral military-technical cooperation.

[76] At the beginning of 2009, Azerbaijani media published allegations that Russia had made extensive weapons transfers to Armenia throughout 2008 costing about $800 million.

[77] According to US diplomatic cables leaked in December 2010, Azerbaijani defence minister Safar Abiyev claimed that in January 2009 during his visit to Moscow, his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov unofficially had admitted to weapons transfers "after the second bottle of vodka" that evening, although officially it was denied.

[78] In June 2013 it was revealed that Russia has deployed in Armenia several Iskander-M ballistic missiles systems, which are stationed at undisclosed locations in the country.

[72] On 4 February 2009, an agreement to create the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (KSOR) was reached by five of the seven CSTO members, with plans finalized on 14 June 2009.

The force is intended to be used to repulse military aggression, conduct anti-terrorist operations, fight transnational crime and drug trafficking, and neutralize the effects of natural disasters.

Armenia is in the process of implementation of Individual Partnership Action Plans (IPAPs), which is a program for those countries that have the political will and ability to deepen their relationship with NATO.

Officials in Yerevan have said the Armenian military plans to substantially increase the size of its peacekeeping detachment and counts on Greek assistance to the effort.

The program has largely consisted of mutual visits to each other's countries in an effort to share "ideas and [the] best practices for military and emergency management.

The EU's Foreign Affairs chief, Josep Borrell stated "Security is an important element of bilateral relations with Armenia.

The EU has a mutual interest in further expanding dialogue on foreign and security policy, also looking into Armenia's future participation in EU-led missions and operations."

While the Armenian Minister of Defence, Suren Papikyan stated "This initiative will give a new charge to closer cooperation with our partner EU member countries in both bilateral and multilateral formats.