Expert: Putin's intention to create a single air defense system with Armenia becomes even more interesting in the light of his upcoming visit to Yerevan

 Russian President Vladimir Putin's intention to create a single air defense system with Armenia becomes even more interesting in the light of his upcoming visit to Yerevan, Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute Sergey Minasyan told ArmInfo.

On 19 November, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would create a joint air defense system with Armenia and Kazakhstan and improve the joint air defense system with Belarus.  "We will enlarge our cooperation with our traditional partners and allies, first of all, with members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States," Putin said. 
"Particularly, the results of the upcoming meeting of the Russian and Armenian presidents and they negotiations on the military-political cooperation are of special interest. A new quality of interaction with the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri, Armenia, and establishment of joint military-industrial ventures is in question. This aspect of the Armenian-Russian strategic relations will become one of the key topics for discussion in Yerevan. As for development of a joint air-defense system, the military and political leaderships of Russia and Armenia discussed this issue long ago. Actually, in the case of Armenia, it has been fully implemented," Minasyan said.  
He believes that Armenia's intention to become part of the Customs Union implies development of military cooperation, particularly, new formats of cooperation, delivery of new air defense systems and modernization of the existing ones. Minasyan is sure that a single air defense system will become a strong "umbrella" for both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. 
The Russian 102nd Military Base in Gyumri, Armenia, is part of the Transcaucasian Group of Forces. The military base is part of a joint air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which was deployed in Armenia in 1995. The 102nd military base is a high-readiness force comprising 13 basic combat units and 17 overall support units. The base has an air defense missile battalion armed with BUK- M1-2 anti-aircraft system, Smerch artillery batteries and MiG-29 fighters.