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Military reforms initiated in Armenia after the 2020 Artsakh War have continued to gain momentum, driven by the broader need to modernize and professionalize the Armed Forces to meet the country’s security challenges. While 2024 saw no border incidents or escalations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s continued threats against Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty highlight the importance of these reforms. However, the need for a comprehensive transformation of the Armed Forces goes beyond any single external threat, reflecting Armenia’s commitment to building a more capable and resilient military.
After years of discussions and repeated assurances of progress, Armenia’s Defense Ministry finally published the Concept of the Transformation of the Army in November 2024—four years after reforms were initiated. Presented as a blueprint for modernizing and strengthening the military, the document largely includes objectives the Ministry has been promoting since the outset of the reform process.
The Concept
The Concept, a ten-year strategy running from 2025-2035, outlines the primary framework for professionalizing Armenia’s Armed Forces and implementing systemic reforms to achieve this goal. It serves as a roadmap for the structural and operational transformation of the military, focusing on modernizing command and management systems, integrating next-generation technologies into armaments and equipment, leveraging the nation’s scientific and technical potential, enhancing mobilization preparedness, and streamlining related processes. Additionally, it prioritizes making military service more appealing by improving education, discipline and social welfare for servicemen.
The primary goal of the army’s development is to ensure readiness for emerging military threats. Despite diverse challenges, the Armed Forces remain the primary institution for addressing these issues.
Given current security realities and evolving threats, the Concept emphasizes that a reliable defense for the Republic of Armenia requires a fully professional army built on modern standards.
Transition to a Professional Army
According to the Concept, professionalism is not defined solely by the method of recruitment but by soldiers’ combat morale, professional, and physical readiness, unit cohesion, and ongoing development. While Armenia’s Armed Forces remain primarily conscription-based, alongside contract service, the Concept stresses that true professionalism requires comprehensive training, advanced capabilities and modern armament—not merely a shift to contract-based service.
Transitioning to a fully contract-based force will not, on its own, ensure professionalism without sufficient investment in training, resources and equipment. The Concept emphasizes the importance of aligning skills with operational needs, hence all servicemen must meet rigorous combat-readiness standards. Conscription-eligible citizens must undergo mandatory military training, while officers and professional non-commissioned officers (NCOs) are required to pursue military education, regardless of any civilian qualifications they may hold.
The Concept outlines key components for transitioning to a professional army: reducing mandatory service while expanding contract-based service, offering better material incentives and fostering combat morale, increasing women’s participation in the Armed Forces by integrating them into combat and command roles, and establishing a professional NCO system.
Contract service, the Concept argues, provides better conditions for professionalism than mandatory service by offering structured work hours, fair compensation, and stronger social support. Mechanisms such as the Defender of the Homeland program will facilitate this transition, alongside plans to reduce conscript numbers by 2027.
Motivation for military service, however, requires more than financial or moral incentives; it demands a strong commitment to state and sovereignty. Without dignified living conditions, psychological support, and proper training, the goal of building a professional army will remain unattainable.
A professional NCO system is envisioned to bolster leadership, enhance training, and provide clear career pathways, ensuring institutional longevity. This system aims to improve unit discipline, and small-unit effectiveness while fostering expertise at all levels.
In summary, the Concept underscores that a professional army requires comprehensive reforms, centered on individual capabilities, institutional support, and societal recognition of military service as a prestigious career.
Territorial Defense System
The Concept envisions replacing the existing local defense forces with territorial defense forces that will ensure the systematic, unified and proportional protection of regions under the state’s administrative jurisdiction. This will involve mobilizing reservists based on population distribution and optimizing human, material and time resources for effective defense.
The new system will establish territorial-level defense structures, with combat units responsible for direct military operations. These units will be staffed according to wartime requirements and supplemented through conscription, while maintaining a peacetime framework for organizational readiness.
Within this system, local defense units will be formed, composed of community-registered individuals not assigned to wartime positions, as well as reservists and those removed from military registration. Participation in these units will be voluntary. The Concept emphasizes that training and preparation during peacetime will be crucial to ensuring the effectiveness of territorial defense.
Military Education, Service Incentives and Civilian Oversight
The Concept emphasizes the critical role of military education and scientific development in transforming Armenia’s Armed Forces. It calls for reshaping the military education system into a self-sufficient, internationally competitive institution capable of training officers in specialized fields critical to national defense.
Equally important is enhancing the Armed Forces’ psychological resilience to maintain personnel morale, and safeguard the military’s reputation. This includes strengthening mental fortitude, countering information-psychological warfare, improving discipline, and promoting legal and ethical awareness to prevent violations.
To make military service more appealing, the Concept outlines a range of benefits for servicemen and their families, including competitive salaries, relocation assistance, medical care, housing programs, vacation compensation and other measures aimed at improving the quality of life for those serving in the Armed Forces.
The Concept also emphasizes democratic and civilian oversight of the Armed Forces as a key factor in strengthening mutual trust between the military and society. It seeks to ensure the consistent application of legality, proportionality, transparency, accountability, and other democratic principles. This is particularly important given the dual challenges of the Armed Forces operating as a traditionally-closed institution and the transition to a professional army, where military personnel’s rights and responsibilities must be clearly defined on a professional basis.
What Has Been Achieved So Far
In a January 15, 2025 press conference, Defense Minister Suren Papikyan outlined the key reforms in Armenia’s Armed Forces, reflecting progress made in 2024. He emphasized changes in education, transformation measures, digitalization and combat readiness.
Education has been a major focus with the establishment of the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Academy in 2024 marking a significant milestone. In 2023, the Armenian Government decided to merge the Vazgen Sargsyan Military University (established in 1994) and the Marshal Armenak Khanperyants Military Aviation University, uniting the two institutions under the Military Academy and enhancing military education. The Academy now offers students the opportunity to study for four years, with housing and salaries.
To incentivize cadets, the Ministry has introduced performance-based scholarships, offering up to 175,000 AMD per month for top-performing students.
The base stipend begins at 15,000 AMD per month for first-year students, increasing incrementally to 20,000 AMD in the second year, 25,000 AMD in the third year, 30,000 AMD in the fourth year, and 35,000 AMD in the fifth year for aviation specialists. Outstanding academic achievements can multiply these stipends up to five times, allowing a first-year cadet to earn up to 75,000 AMD per month and a fifth-year aviation student to reach the maximum 175,000 AMD. “I believe this will strongly motivate students to prioritize their education and training,” Papikyan stated.
Scholarships have also been introduced at the Monte Melkonian Military College, ranging from 15,000 to 30,000 AMD.
The Minister highlighted the growing importance of international study opportunities, noting an increase in Armenian military students training in Greece, the United States, and France—now key defense partners for Armenia. “This will remain a priority, and we hope more young people will pursue military education,” Papikyan added.
Regarding the professionalization of the military, the Defense Minister highlighted the significance of the “Defender of the Homeland” program, which allows enlisted personnel and officers to transition to contract-based service after six months. Replacing the previous “I Am” initiative, the program offers a one-time honorarium of 5 million AMD for those who complete their contract and are discharged.
Papikyan noted that the program’s popularity has grown, with the number of participants doubling in its second cycle and thousands of young people joining annually.
The Minister also addressed the integration of women into the military, with several already participating in military service programs and enrolling in military institutions.
Steps to enhance combat readiness, such as the certification program, have led to significant salary increases for servicemen, benefiting thousands of families. Papikyan also highlighted structural reforms, including the creation of territorial defense forces, special forces, and a UAV department to improve operational capabilities.
Finally, he emphasized the importance of international partnerships with France and the U.S. in driving institutional reforms and developing new structures. Strengthening the professional NCO system will be a key focus moving forward.
Military expert Leonid Nersisyan views the Defense Ministry’s concept for military reform as significant, marking the first formal document outlining Armenia’s military transformation. However, he emphasizes that the concept lacks sufficient detail and needs to be operationalized with more comprehensive plans. Nersisyan stresses the urgency for quick implementation, noting that the document’s prolonged drafting process contrasts with the usual 2-3 month timeline for such documents. Speed is essential to keep up with rapidly evolving warfare and technologies.
A professional army, according to Nersisyan, is not defined by contract soldiers alone; their training must surpass that of conscripts. The concept proposes reducing mandatory service by 2027 but lacks specifics on the reduction. For example, reducing service by one year would require recruiting an additional 12,500 soldiers over three years. A smaller reduction, such as six months, would require around 6,500 new recruits, highlighting the challenge of this ambitious target.
To make military service more attractive, Nersisyan suggests that the army’s reputation must be improved by offering competitive pay, skill development, and a purposeful service experience. The Defender of the Homeland program is seen as a positive step after the first six months, but the quality of service must improve to encourage contract signings. Nersisyan also stresses the importance of effective public communication about military progress to build trust and motivate potential recruits.
Persisting Issues
Despite ongoing reforms, significant challenges persist within Armenia’s Armed Forces, with non-combat deaths among servicemen being a major concern. In 2024, 38 servicemen died in non-combat situations, including seven suicides.
The Helsinki Assembly Office of Vanadzor in its 2024 Assessment Report on the Armenian Government’s efforts to reform, restructure and modernize the Armed Forces, highlights that these deaths are largely due to inadequate human rights protections and weak military discipline. The report cites hazing, suicide, homicide and violations of safety and combat duty regulations as key contributors to non-combat fatalities. It also points to a critical gap in education within the Armed Forces, which remains a significant barrier to the success of military reforms.
According to the Report, one of the primary guarantees of human rights protection in the Armed Forces should be fostering servicemen’s willingness to report all violations. This must be followed by thorough investigations and effective resolution of identified issues, ultimately reducing such violations.
During the press conference, Defense Minister Suren Papikyan addressed the causes of soldiers’ deaths in peacetime, acknowledging their deep-rooted nature. He accepted his share of responsibility for the fact that the Armed Forces have not yet eliminated peacetime deaths.
“But this is not solely an issue of the Armed Forces; these problems have roots that form a cause-and-effect chain,” Papikyan stated. “The 36 peacetime deaths in the army are not only due to murders and suicides—they have occurred under various circumstances.”
He explained that the deaths resulted from a variety of causes, including illness, road and other accidents, as well as murders and suicides influenced by criminal subcultures.
In 2023, 15 servicemen perished in a fire that erupted in a military barracks near the border. In 2024, four servicemen were killed and 20 were injured when a military vehicle transporting servicemen fell into a gorge.
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