Azerbaijan May Have Reinforced Air Defense With New Chinese Missiles
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Chinese People’s Liberation Army HQ-9 surface to air missile launchers are seen during a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on September 3, 2015. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Azerbaijan’s purported acquisition of strategic Chinese HQ-9BE surface-to-air missile systems will undoubtedly strengthen its already formidable arsenal of Russian and Israeli-made ground-based air defenses. It could also prove yet another example of China winning export contracts for its strategic air defenses with countries that had hitherto acquired these systems from Russia. Ahead of Azerbaijan’s military victory parade, marking the fifth anniversary of its military defeat of Armenia in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, in Baku on Saturday, an image circulated online of a Chinese-made HQ-9BE system driving along one of the parade routes. Azerbaijani media correctly noted that while there are not yet any confirmations of an acquisition from officials in either Baku or Beijing, the photographed “presence in parade rehearsals strongly suggests that Azerbaijan has officially integrated the HQ-9BE into its arsenal.” If conclusively confirmed, such an acquisition would not come as a surprise. Resource-rich Azerbaijan has invested heavily in its military over the past decade. And air defenses are certainly no exception. In the early 2010s, it acquired strategic, long-range S-300 PMU-2 missile systems from Russia. The HQ-9 is China’s equivalent of the S-300 and bears a striking resemblance to it. S-300s in Azerbaijani service participated in an air defense drill as recently as 2024. S-300 air defense systems are displayed during the Victory Parade held to celebrate Azerbaijani army’s victory in Nagorno-Karabakh at Azadliq Square (Freedom Square) in Baku, Azerbaijan on December 10, 2020. (Photo by Mustafa Murat Kaynak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Furthermore, Baku bought Russian-designed Buk medium-range surface-to-air missiles from Belarus in the early 2010s.…
Filed under: News - @ November 7, 2025 11:33 pm