As previously reported, one of the leading analytical centers of Russia, the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies recently published a book about the Second-Karabakh War called “Storm in the Caucasus”. The book analyzes the war in a wide international and regional context, reveals many interesting and previously published facts about the progress of hostilities in Karabakh.
haqqın.az reports that by analyzing the tactics of the Azerbaijani army, Russian analysts note that two main and two auxiliary directions were chosen for the attack. It is emphasized that at the initial stage of hostilities Azerbaijan threw all the strength and means available at his disposal.
In the first days of military operations in various directions of the front, modern T-90 tanks appeared on the battlefield, accompanied by BMP-3, as well as relatively old T-72 tanks and outdated BMP-1.
Agdam Direction, which provided direct access to Hankendi, was not chosen as the main direction of attack. The book notes that the maps of mine-fields transferred to the Azerbaijani side after the war, once again confirm the correctness of this decision. However, Armenian positions in the direction of the center during the fighting were also attacked.
In the northeastern front, the 1st Army Corps of the Azerbaijani Army was assumed towards the village of Talysh and the center of Agder. However, due to the mountainous area, the attack in the first days was not fast. Attempts to break through the front in this direction led to the loss of several tanks, BTR and BMP, as well as a living force.
The most important and promising direction was south. Here, in front of the 2nd corps of the Azerbaijani army, there was a challenge to break through the Goradis corridor – a narrow, actually flat terrain of 4-5 km wide on the border with Iran, on the banks of the Araz River. The split of the front in this direction allowed us to move along the banks of the Araz River, in the Gyejan Plain. This front portion allowed to effectively use armored vehicles. Therefore, the best parts of the 4th Army Corps were focused here, equipped with heavy equipment – T-90 tanks, BMP-3, BTR-82 and modern wheel armored vehicles (“Matador” and “Marauder”).
At the same time, the auxiliary blow was applied in the direction of the city of Fizuli in the south. Taking this city could prepare the soil for a deep attack in the Nagorno part of Karabakh.
The book notes that the Azerbaijani army, which is in service with unmanned aerial vehicles, used in the southern direction and piloted aircraft, although limited. Su-25 assault bombers hit the goals in the area of Fizuli cities and Jebella Laser and unmanaged bombs.
During one of these departures, one of the SU-25 storms was shot down, his pilot Zaur Nudyraliev (Hero of the Patriotic War, posthumously – Ed.). After that, Azerbaijan stopped using manned aircraft for two weeks, which further increased the role of the unmanned.