Armenia’s Ministry of Defense refuses to say whether the country’s Su-25 attack aircraft have been upgraded.

On August 24, 2020, the Ministry of Defense announced that it signed a contract with Russia’s United Aircraft Construction Company to modernize and repair the aircraft, some dating to the Soviet-era.

According to the 2023 World Air Forces Directory, Armenia has ten Sukhoi Su-25 -attack aircraft.

Former Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan, testifying on August 1 before the Armenian parliament’s committee investigating the 2020 Karabakh war, said he doesn’t know if such work has been done. The contract was signed when Tonoyan served as defense minister.

“We should have made some progress in the past three years. Maybe the military operation carried out by Russia (in Ukraine, ed.) have created certain obstacles," Tonoyan said.

The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) stopped producing the SU-25 ground attack aircraft in 2017, Aviation Voice reported.

Following Davit Tonoyan's statement, Hetq sent a written request to the Ministry of Defense to find out whether the SU-25s have been modernized.  

The ministry, arguing such information is a “military secret”, refused to answer our query.

(Armenia acquired four modern Su-30SM fighters from Russia in May 2020. These newer attack planes were never used in the 2020 Karabakh war because no missiles had been purchased.)

Photo: Armenian Ministry of Defense