The professionalism, combat capability, modern weapons, and victory of the Azerbaijani Army in the Second Karabakh War are still in the spotlight of the international community, military-political circles, and the media.
Report informs that the following analysis was published in the Washington Post.
Although the article "Russian tanks are taking a beating. Do they still have a place on the modern battlefield?" is dedicated to the Russian-Ukrainian war, it also covers Azerbaijan's victory in the 44-day Patriotic War.
Author Max Boot writes that the combination of TB2 drones and Israeli-made loitering munitions proved highly potent for Azerbaijan in its victorious war against Armenia in 2020. According to him, 47 percent of Armenia's combat vehicles were damaged or destroyed.
The Army Times wrote that the destruction of tanks by precision drone strikes either spelled the end of armor as we know it or served as an example of what unprotected, poorly deployed armor would face.
Boot said that the Ukrainians have also made good use of Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones firing antitank missiles. Open-source reporting indicates that the Russians have lost more than 1,600 vehicles and equipment, including nearly 300 tanks and more than 500 armored vehicles of other kinds.
According to the article, if the Russian tanks were better supported by infantry, artillery, and airpower, the argument goes, they would not be so vulnerable to the hit-and-run tactics of Ukrainian infantry armed with antitank weapons. The consensus of military experts is that armor still has a vital place on the battlefield in enabling offensive operations.
The only thing all sides in the armor debate can agree on is that Russia is badly misusing its tanks — and Ukraine is taking full advantage of Russian ineptitude.