[3] On February 11, 2009, the Commander of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Rail Rzayev, was assassinated outside his home by an unidentified armed assailant.

[4] Rzayev had been reportedly negotiating closer ties with the United States regarding air force modernisation before his death, possibly including the acquisition of US fighter aircraft.

[9][10] By presidential decree of 24 December 2015, the school was abolished and transferred to the Azerbaijan Higher Military Academy with the establishment of the corresponding faculties there.

[13] Airfields in Gala and the Nasosnaya Air Base near Haji Zeynalabidin settlement have been modernised with US support as part of the Azerbaijan-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan.

An advanced Flight Control System has been installed at Dollyar Air Base with support from the United States.

The radar station had a range of up to 6,000 kilometres (3,728 mi), and was designed to detect missile launches as far as from the Indian Ocean.

[24][25] The Air Force retains in store and L-39 fighter training aircraft produced in the Czech Republic and Ukraine.

The project aimed to carry out the integration of Turkish Guided Ammunition Weapon Systems and avionics into the aircraft.

In 2009 Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry signed a contract with Russia's Rosoboronexport company to buy two battalions of S-300PMU-2 Favorit.

[45][46] In January 2012, Azerbaijan and Israel signed a $1.6 billion deal that includes anti-aircraft and missile defense systems.

[47] Jane's said in 2009 that 'efforts to acquire more modern hardware are understood to have been underway for several years, but funding constraints proved to be a stumbling block.

[54] In 2018, Pakistani Armed Forces actively discussed military and defence cooperation with Azerbaijan, culminating in the latter expressing an interest in purchasing the fighter jet.

[55] In December 2018, Turan, an independent Azerbaijani news agency, reported that the negotiations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan on the purchase of JF-17 Block II combat aircraft were coming to the end.

[57] On 20 February 2020, Azerbaijan's Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov signed a preliminary agreement on the procurement of Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master during the President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Italy on that day.