During 9 hours of clashes on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan, 2 areas of the S-300 air defense system of Armenia were destroyed. While 150-200 soldiers killed, hundreds wounded.
New clashes erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia on Wednesday as international peace efforts intensified a day after nearly 100 soldiers were killed in the worst fighting between the ex-Soviet republics since 2020.
The Armenian defence ministry accused Azerbaijan, which is backed politically and militarily by Turkey, of firing artillery and small arms in a fresh attack.
At least 150 Armenia and Azerbaijani soldiers were killed on Tuesday along their common border, prompting an appeal for calm from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both sides blamed each other for the fighting. Also Armenia lost two S-300 launchers.
Moment Armenian S-300 destroyed by Azerbaijan IAI Harop loitering munition #Armenia #Azerbaijan pic.twitter.com/wHkdfzkvVT
— The foxbat (@IndiandefenceNS) September 14, 2022
Many video regarding the destruction of S-300 posted by users in social media. Judging by the video, the drone was able to successfully enter the “dead zone” of the radar, and destroy at least the radar with an accurate hit, although according to a number of sources, at least one launcher was also hit by the explosion.
In the video footage taken by the IAI Harop kamikaze drone itself just a few seconds before the strike on the radar of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, you can see that the radar station is covered by a special hangar, probably in order to exclude its detection by Bayraktar TB2 drones. Nevertheless, the IAI Harop drone turned out to be more effective in this regard – having found the radar and going almost vertically, the UAV destroyed it.
According to unofficial data published by the Clash Report, during the 9 hours of confrontation, Armenia lost at least two S-300 systems, thereby losing the ability to track the flights of Azerbaijani aircraft and counteract missile strikes, although due to the achievement of ceasefire agreements, until the last came.
At the moment, representatives of the Armenian Ministry of Defense do not comment on the information about the destruction of two positional areas of the S-300 air defense system, however, there is evidence that explosions were indeed recorded at two military facilities in Armenia, although there is no direct evidence of this.
Among other things, Clash Report experts report up to 200 Armenian soldiers were killed during the clashes, while, according to the official data of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the number of deaths in 9 hours of clashes was 49 people, with an unnamed number of wounded.
“Losses of Armenia during recent battles:
- 150-200 soldiers killed, hundreds wounded (Offical 49 soldiers dead)
- 2 S-300 air defense systems and many other military equipment”
At the moment, there is high tension on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, however, hostilities are not recorded.