Some Baku historians argue that a semblance of a military fleet appeared in the feudal state of Shirvan, located on the territory of modern Azerbaijan, in the 12th century - during the reign of Shirvanshah Akhsitan I. Having warships and relying on the walls of the Baku fortress, Akhsitan I was able to repel the attack the boats of the Rus, who were trying to take over the city.
With collapse in mid-eighteenth century of the Persian empire of Nadir Shah, which included the lands of Azerbaijan, several petty khanates appeared at enmity with each other, including Baku, whose ruler from 1747 to 1768 was Mirza Muhammad Khan - a man who was not alien to maritime affairs. Under him, the construction of ships began in Baku, not only commercial, but also military ones.Little is known about the ancient Azerbaijani navigators. It is unlikely that their ships were masterpieces of shipbuilding, but the fact remains that attempts to create their own navy in Azerbaijan go back centuries.
Main base of the Caspian flotilla
The Baku military port is located in the western part of the Baku Bay (Bayil district). In 1867, the main base of the Russian Caspian flotilla was transferred to Baku from Astrakhan. February Revolution and the October coup of 1917 had a corrupting effect on the Caspian flotilla - so, at the request of the sailor lads, the commander Rear Admiral E.V. Klyupfel was expelled.The revolutionary sailors supported the Bolshevik Baku Commune. Then the dashing brothers with the same ease supported the Menshevik-Socialist-Revolutionary Central Caspian (Central Committee of the Caspian Flotilla). After the fall of the Baku commune, and after it - the short-lived dictatorship of the Central Caspian, almost the entire Caspian flotilla of the former Russian Empire came under the jurisdiction of the Musavat Republic of Azerbaijan.
At first, during the occupation of Azerbaijan by the Turks, who took Baku in September 1918, bringing the government of the Musavatists here, Azerbaijan did not have a navy. In November of the same year defeated In the First World War, the Turks were replaced in Baku by the British - a 5,000-strong garrison led by General Thomson. The British handed over to the government of Azerbaijan the ships and vessels of the Russian Caspian flotilla, which had been taken away by order of the Central Caspian Sea to Petrovsk (now Makhachkala), but returned to Baku after the departure of the Turks.
At the end of August 1919, the evacuation of British troops from Baku began. The forces of the English navy (Royal Navy Caspian Flotilla), headed by Commodore Norris, who had been operating in the Caspian Sea since 1918, completed their mission at the theater. The British Navy handed over to the Azerbaijani Navy part of its warships and auxiliary watercraft - ships of the Russian commercial fleet, captured and armed by the British. Among them, in particular, were the auxiliary cruiser Pushkin, the gunboat Gretsia, the messenger ships Kursk and Oryol, and the hospital ship Alesgerie.
Ultimately, in the spring of 1920, the Azerbaijani Navy in in full force went over to the side of the Bolsheviks. They were headed by the Azerbaijani Bolshevik, engineer, ethnic Kurd Chingiz Ildrym. After the victory of the Bolsheviks, Ildrym became the People's Commissar of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic for military and naval affairs and the commander of the Red Fleet of Soviet Azerbaijan - this is how the national Navy was now called.
In the summer of 1920, the Red Fleet of Soviet Azerbaijan was merged with the Caspian Navy of the RSFSR into the Naval Forces of the Caspian Sea (since 1931 - the Caspian Flotilla). On this, the history of the actual national Azerbaijani military fleet was interrupted for 72 years.
The collapse of the USSR also affected the Caspian Flotilla. In the summer of 1992, its main forces, based in Baku, were divided between Russia and Azerbaijan. In addition to warships and vessels of almost all classes and auxiliary vessels available to the flotilla, Azerbaijan received at its disposal a well-equipped Baku naval base with large stocks of ammunition and materiel, a military shipyard No. 23 and other elements of the naval infrastructure.The first ship to raise the state flag of Azerbaijan was the Bakunets patrol ship. It happened on July 26, 1992. This date marked the revival of the national Navy of Azerbaijan. The captain of the 1st rank Rafik Askerov, who did not particularly show himself in this post, became the commander, and in 1999 the Azerbaijani Navy was headed by a graduate of the navigation department of the Caspian Higher Naval Red Banner School named after S. M. Kirov, now Vice Admiral Shahin Sultanov.
In the early years of independence, the Azerbaijani leadership, mired in internal political and economic turmoil and an inglorious war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, had no time for the national navy and maintaining its ships in proper order. And military sailors were sent to the land front.
Baku craftsmen, having found several old 130-mm B-13 naval artillery mounts in the warehouses of the Caspian flotilla, placed them on railway platforms and sent them to shell Armenian positions from the site railway Yevlakh - Stepanakert. The ships of the Azerbaijani Navy were involved in suppressing the rebellion of the separatists in the south of the country, where they tried to proclaim the Talysh Mugan Republic.
In 1994, at the initiative of the then President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, which saved this country from a national catastrophe. At the same time, Aliyev is a talented politician and an experienced statesman- made vigorous efforts to restore order in the armed forces, and it was under him that Azerbaijan began systematic military construction.
It is noteworthy that in 1997, the Milli Majlis (parliament) of Azerbaijan approved a system of naval flags and pennants, in the design concept of which there is a clear influence Soviet system. From an aesthetic point of view, the blue and white with an anchor and a red crescent, the stern ensign of the Azerbaijani Navy can be classified as one of the most beautiful in the world. For ships and vessels of the naval units of the border troops, a flag of a traditional Soviet design has also been adopted today (a green field with a naval ensign in the roof).
With the appointment of energetic Shahin Sultanov to the post of commander of the Navy, a qualitatively new stage in their history began. Vice-Admiral Sultanov turned out to be an intelligent organizer: under him, the combat capability of the ships inherited by Azerbaijan was restored and, in addition, some auxiliary ships were turned into combat units.
Forces, means, strength
The personnel of the Azerbaijani Navy today is about 2500-3000 people. Training of officers of the fleet and naval units of the border troops is carried out at the Naval Academy of Azerbaijan (former KVVMKU named after S. M. Kirov) and military educational institutions of Turkey, and midshipmen and chavushs (foremen) of contract service - in training center Navy.The flagship of the Azerbaijani Navy is the 1040-ton patrol ship "Bakinets" ("SKR-16") of project 159A, built in 1967, renamed G121 "Kusar" (after the name of the Azerbaijani city of Kusar, in Soviet time- Kusary). During a lengthy repair, two 400-mm PTA-40-159 five-tube anti-submarine torpedo tubes were removed from the ship (some time later, two torpedo tubes were installed in the stern), a pair of RBU-6000 rocket launchers were retained, and artillery armament was strengthened - in addition In addition to two full-time two-gun 76-mm AK-726 artillery mounts, the Azerbaijanis installed a pair of double-barreled 30-mm AK-230 anti-aircraft guns on it.
The Azerbaijanis removed container launchers of P-15U anti-ship missiles from the R-173 project 205U "Tsunami" missile boat, renamed it S-008 and transferred it to the coast guard of the maritime units of the border troops. A pair of project 205P "Tarantula" artillery boats (former AK-234 and AK-374) were also transferred there. 400-mm anti-submarine torpedo tubes were removed from Project 205P boats.
In order to replenish the composition of the combat ship forces, the Azerbaijanis converted the former project 1388R radiation-chemical reconnaissance ship (former KRKh-1) into patrol boats, installing two 14.5-mm twin 2M7 anti-aircraft machine gun mounts (it received tail number P212), and a former project 368U rescue boat (tail number R219). The latter was armed more seriously: twin 25-mm 2M3M anti-aircraft guns and 14.5-mm 2M7 anti-aircraft machine guns, as well as two RBU-1200 rocket launchers. It turned out to be a kind of small hunter of the level of the 50s.
Three former training boats of the Caspian flotilla of the Polish project UK-3 also received 2M7 anti-aircraft machine-gun "sparks" - now they also belong to the patrol class and carry tail numbers P213, P214 and P215. There are also two patrol boats R217 and R218 of project 722 of Polish construction (former Soviet messenger boats, after being accepted into the Azerbaijani Navy, each also armed with a 2M7 installation).
There is also a patrol boat R222 in the Azerbaijani fleet, well-known in many countries of the world of the Soviet project 1400M "Grif" with a 12.7-mm coaxial machine gun "Utes-M".
The only foreign acquisition of the Azerbaijani Navy was the old, built in 1949 anti-submarine boat P223 "Araz" - the former Turkish AB-34 of the "Turk" type.
The mine-sweeping forces of the Azerbaijani Navy are represented by ships that more or less meet modern requirements: three basic minesweepers of project 12650 "Yakhont" (M325, M326 and M327) and two raids of project 1258 "Korund" (M237 and M328).
The group of amphibious forces of the fleet includes small landing ships- four Polish buildings (project 771A - D433, projects 770MA and 770T - D431, D432 and D434) and two projects 106K (D435 and D436). There is also a Project 1785 landing craft D437.
The auxiliary fleet of the Azerbaijani Navy is represented by more than two dozen different vessels, of which the project 10470 deep-sea diving support vessel A671 (formerly Sviyaga), project 1844 offshore tanker T752, two small hydrographic vessels of projects 871 (tail number H561) and 872 can be noted (both Polish-built), two fire-fighting vessels (former PZhS-551 and PZhS-552) of project 1893, two fire-fighting boats A643 and A644 of project 364, a small cable ship T750 (former "Emba") of the Finnish project 1172, diving boats of project 1896 ( A641) and project 1415 (A648), hospital boat A649 of the Polish project SK-620, road tugs of project 737 (T757) and project 9.8057 (built by the GDR - T758), etc. There is also a 106-meter non-self-propelled repair floating dock .
Swimmers, submarines, aircraft
Almost all ships and vessels are based in Baku (the historical naval region of Bailov). The Navy also includes a battalion marines and naval sabotage and reconnaissance center for special purposes - Military Unit 641 (a detachment of combat swimmers), stationed on the seashore, in the Zykh area on the outskirts of Baku (not far from the Naval Academy). In some sources, this unit is called a brigade. It was created on the material basis of the former naval reconnaissance point of the Caspian Flotilla of the USSR Navy.Military unit 641 is armed with ultra-small submarines left to Azerbaijan (group carriers of combat swimmers) of the Triton-1M and Triton-2 types, as well as individual underwater means of propulsion for reconnaissance divers - torpedo-shaped carriers of the Siren type and others. Now the baton in the training of the special forces of the Azerbaijani Navy from the former Soviet officers hosted by instructors from NATO countries, in particular, SEALs of the US Navy SEAL sabotage and reconnaissance units and instructors from the private American company Blackwater USA.
An obvious shortcoming of the Azerbaijani Navy is the lack of its own specialized aviation: several Ka-27PS helicopters and three Be-12 amphibious seaplanes that Baku got at one time have already exhausted their resources. However, to support and air cover the fleet, Azerbaijan can use combat aircraft and helicopters of the Air Force (for example, Su-24M front-line bombers, Su-25 attack aircraft, L-39 combat training aircraft, MiG-29 front-line fighters, Mi-8 and Mi- 24). Mobilization reserve naval aviation - helicopters Mi-8, Sikorsky S-76, Eurocopter "Super Puma" and "Dofeng" of the civil airline "Azalgelikopter", which actively uses them to supply the Caspian oil platforms. In the interests of the Navy, the newest Be-200ChS amphibious rescue seaplane of the Ministry of emergencies Azerbaijan.
The current reserve of the Azerbaijani Navy is the coast guard of the maritime units of the country's border troops. In addition to three patrol boats (according to the Soviet classification - border patrol ships of the 3rd rank, in the Navy - artillery boats) of project 205P (now S-005, S-006 and S-007), inherited from the Caspian Flotilla and the 17th separate brigade patrol boats of the Border Troops of the USSR, as well as the former project 205U S-008 missile boat mentioned above, it includes the S-201 patrol boat built in 1969 decommissioned by the US Coast Guard (the former Point Brower of the Point type D series).
In addition, two small patrol boats of the "Silver Ship 48-foot" type (S-11 and S-12) and smaller watercraft, including inflatable motor boats with a rigid frame S-09 and S-10 of the RIB type, were received from the United States -36.
Large ocean tugs and supply vessels that previously belonged to the Caspian Oil Fleet have been accepted into the Azerbaijan Coast Guard. These are four Polish-built vessels: the Vikhr type (V-99 project) - S-703 and the Neftegaz type (V-92 project) - S-701, S-002 and S-003. A feature of the supply vessel for offshore oil platforms of the "Neftegaz" type is the possibility of using it as an auxiliary landing transport. On the deck of Naftogaz, 13 armored personnel carriers BTR-60/70/80 can be placed, while landing of such armored vehicles by descending into the water from the stern is not ruled out. One of the Naftogaz of the coast guard has a helipad for a Mi-8 helicopter, the other is equipped with a powerful antenna system, which allows us to make an assumption that it performs the functions of a radio and electronic intelligence and control ship.
The most powerful economic potential in the post-Soviet Transcaucasia, which is based on oil production, fully allows Azerbaijan to have a small, but significant military fleet as a factor of strength in the Caspian Sea.
Plan:
- Introduction
- 1. History
- 1.1 Fleet of Soviet Azerbaijan
- 1.2 Rebirth
- 2 Organizational structure
- 3 Locations
- 4 Combat strength
- 4.1 Navy
- 4.2 Marines
- 4.3 Navy Special Forces
- 5
Equipment and weapons
- 5.1 Navy
- 5.2 Marines
- 6 Prefix of ships and vessels
- 7
Flags of ships and vessels
- 7.1 Flags of officials
- 8 Insignia
- 8.1 Admirals and officers
- 8.2 Chiefs and sailors
- 8.3 Badges on hats
Notes
Introduction
Flag of the Azerbaijani Navy
Azerbaijan Navy(Azerb. Azərbaycan Hərbi Dəniz Qüvvələri listen)) is one of the branches of the armed forces of Azerbaijan.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in 2005 the strength of the Azerbaijani Navy was 1,750 people. As of 2007, the strength of the Azerbaijani Navy was 2,500 people.
1. History
In 1867, the main base of the Russian Caspian military flotilla was transferred to Baku from Astrakhan. After the collapse of the Russian Empire, the ships of the Caspian military flotilla came under the control of the Central Caspian government.
In the spring of 1920, the Azerbaijani Navy supported the local Bolsheviks who overthrew the power of the Musavatists and were renamed the Red Fleet of Soviet Azerbaijan, which was headed by Chingiz Ildrym. On May 1, the ships of the Volga-Caspian military flotilla entered Baku, where the Caspian military fleet was soon formed, consisting of 3 auxiliary cruisers, 10 destroyers, 4 submarines and other ships. On May 18, ships of the Volga-Caspian and Azerbaijan flotillas and landing units occupied Anzali, also capturing ships and ships taken away by the White Guards and interventionists. In the summer of the same year, the Caspian and Azerbaijani fleets were merged into the Naval Forces of the Caspian Sea, renamed on June 27, 1931 into the Caspian Flotilla of the Soviet Navy. Russian military specialist Alexander Shirokorad notes that the Azerbaijani fleet ceased to exist no earlier than 1921.
1.2. Second birth
After the collapse Soviet Union the property of the Caspian Flotilla was divided between Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. In the summer of 1992, the division of the Caspian flotilla was completed, as a result of which 30% of the floating and 100% of the coastal base of the Caspian flotilla came under the command of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Navy received the patrol ship "Bakinets" (project 159A), a missile boat (project 205U), two artillery boats (project 205 M), a patrol boat (project 1400M), three basic (project 12650) and two raid (project 1258) minesweepers , three small (project 770T and 770MA) and medium (project 771A) landing ships, a hydrographic vessel "Resonance" and other watercraft.
2. Organizational structure
Organizationally, the Azerbaijani Navy includes:
- Surface ships brigade
- Water District Protection Division
- Landing Ship Division
- minesweeper division
- Search and Rescue Vessel Division
- Division of training ships
- Brigade of patrol ships
- Marines
- Naval sabotage and reconnaissance brigade
- Reserve
- Azerbaijan Coast Guard
- Brigade of patrol ships
- Azerbaijan Coast Guard
- Mobilization reserve
- Merchant fleet of Azerbaijan
- Educational establishments
- Azerbaijan Higher Naval School- training of officers of the fleet and naval units of the border troops.
- Azerbaijan Navy Training Center- training of midshipmen and foremen of the contract service.
3. Locations
- Naval Base Baku(Navy Headquarters).
- VMB Zykh(Marines)
4. Combat composition
As of 2006, the Navy included:
4.1. Navy
[specify]
| Type | Board number | Name | In the fleet | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrol ships | |||||
| project 159A patrol ship | G121 | Qusar | no data | in service | |
| missile boats | |||||
| project 205U missile boat | S-008 | no data | no data | in service | former RCA "R-173" |
| torpedo boats | |||||
| project 205P torpedo boat | S-004 | no data | no data | in service | |
| project 205P torpedo boat | S-005 | no data | no data | in service | |
| project 205P torpedo boat | S-006 | no data | no data | in service | |
| project 205P missile boat | S-007 | no data | no data | in service | |
| Patrol boats | |||||
| project 1388R patrol boat | P212 | no data | no data | in service | former radiation-chemical reconnaissance ship (CRH-1) |
| project 368T patrol boat | P219 | no data | no data | in service | |
| project 1400M patrol boat | P222 | no data | no data | in service | former AK-55 |
| Türk-class patrol boat | P223 | no data | no data | in service | former Turkish AB-34 |
| Point-class patrol boat | S14 | no data | no data | in service | |
| minesweepers | |||||
| M325 | no data | no data | in service | ||
| basic minesweeper project 1265 | M326 | no data | no data | in service | |
| M327 | no data | no data | in service | ||
| raid minesweeper project 1258 | M328 | no data | no data | in service | |
| Landing ships | |||||
| D433 | no data | no data | in service | former SDK-107 | |
| Project 771A small landing ship | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| Project 771A small landing ship | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| D431 | no data | no data | in service | former SDK-36 | |
| Project 770 small landing ship | D432 | no data | no data | in service | former SDK-37 |
| Project 770 small landing ship | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| D435 | no data | no data | in service | ||
| Project 106K small landing ship | D436 | no data | no data | in service | |
| Project 106K small landing ship | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| Landing craft 1785 | D-437 | no data | no data | in service | former D-603 |
| tankers | |||||
| shallow draft tanker type???? | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| small base tanker type ???? | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| Auxiliary ships and vessels | |||||
| no data | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| no data | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| no data | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| no data | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| no data | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| no data | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| no data | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| no data | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| no data | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| no data | no data | no data | in service | ||
| small hydrographic vessel of type ???? | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| no data | no data | no data | in service | ||
| fire-fighting ship type???? | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| cable ship type???? | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| sanitary-hospital boat type ???? | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
| training ships | |||||
| no data | no data | no data | no data | in service | |
4.2. Marines
4.3. Navy Special Forces
5. Equipment and weapons
5.1. Navy
5.2. Marines
6. Prefix of ships and vessels
7. Flags of ships and vessels
7.1. Flags of officials
| President of Azerbaijan | Commander-in-Chief of the Navy | Chief of the General Staff of the Navy | Ship group commander |
|---|---|---|---|
| Braid-pennant of the commander of a group of ships | Braid-pennant of the commander of the division of ships | Braid pennant senior on the road | |
8. Insignia
8.1. Admirals and officers
| Categories | Admiral | senior officers | junior officers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoulder strap | ||||||||||
| Sleeve badge | ||||||||||
| Azerbaijani rank | Admiral | Vitse-Admiral | Kontr-Admiral | Birinci Dərəcəli Kapitan | Ikinci Dərəcəli Kapitan | Üçüncü Dərəcəli Kapitan | Captain Lieutenant | Bass Lieutenant | Lieutenant | Kicik Lieutenant |
| Russian correspondence |
Admiral | Vice Admiral | rear admiral | Captain 1st rank | Captain 2nd rank | Captain 3rd rank | Lieutenant Commander | Senior Lieutenant | Lieutenant | Ensign |
8.2. Chiefs and sailors
| Categories | Midshipmen | petty officers | Sailors | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoulder strap | ||||||||
| Azerbaijani rank | Bass Micman | Micman | Kicik Micman | Birinci Starsina | Ikinci Starsina | Üçüncü Starşina | Bass Dənizçi | Dənizçi |
| Russian correspondence |
Senior midshipman | Midshipman | Chief ship sergeant major | chief sergeant major | Petty officer of the first article | Sergeant major of the second article | Senior sailor | Sailor |
Last week, the Naval Forces (Navy) of Azerbaijan held command and staff exercises in the national sector of the Caspian Sea. According to experts, the exercises have become the most ambitious for last years and showed a marked increase naval forces republics.
The main goal of the exercises was the planning of joint actions to protect the energy infrastructure in the operational zone of the sea. As the website of the Ministry of Defense clarified, about 3,000 military sailors, more than 30 warships, boats, up to 20 combat aircraft, helicopters and more than 20 rocket and artillery installations were involved in the maneuvers.
At the first stage of the exercises, also conducted with the involvement of the Air Force, missile troops, artillery, and special forces, groups of ships, units and subunits went to the specified concentration areas. The tasks of staffing and combat coordination were also successfully completed.
During the second phase of the exercises, combat aircraft and helicopters of the Air Force, forces Missile troops and artillery deployed along the coast, as well as special forces, in conjunction with each other, completed combat training tasks to free an oil platform and a merchant ship, captured according to legend by a terrorist and sabotage group, as well as to destroy ships that illegally entered the operational zone. As a result, the goals were destroyed, the tasks set were completed.
Summing up the results of the exercises, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov highly appreciated the professionalism, the level of practical and moral-psychological training of the personnel, as well as the combat readiness of the units involved in the exercises.
Recall that the new naval base at Cape Puta in the Garadagh region of Baku was opened in June last year. The base is equipped with the most modern equipment. Operational data on the surface situation in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea are received here through radar stations installed at coastal and island radio posts
The exercises in the Caspian Sea were also monitored by Russian military experts. “The navy of Azerbaijan is designed to solve the problems of protecting the interests of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea, primarily its economic zone. It consists mainly of light forces: these are boats, patrol ships and border patrol ships, providing the task of covering the indicated areas. The composition of the fleet fully corresponds to the solution of these tasks, ”said the portal "Moscow - Baku" First Vice-President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Sciences, captain of the first rank of the reserve Konstantin Sivkov.
“To solve the problems of combating various terrorist organizations, banditry, poaching, Navy Azerbaijan and its border ships are quite capable. If necessary, the fleet can also interact with the Russian Caspian flotilla, taking into account the fact that the Russian-friendly Iranian fleet is nearby. Fortunately, he has no serious opponents there. There are agreements on the distribution of spheres of influence - and there, without the consent of the countries of the Caspian region, the appearance of warships of other states is unlikely," summed up Mr. Sivkov.
Ilgar Velizade, head of the South Caucasus political club, believes that the maneuvers on August 22-25 turned out to be the largest in recent times and “proved the growth military force Azerbaijan" in the Caspian.
“Comprehensive interaction between the naval and air fleets was worked out. The task was to identify groups of terrorists and prevent possible sabotage on the main pipelines or attacks on oil and gas fields," Mr. Velizade, an expert at the Moscow-Baku portal, said.
As you know, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1992, the Caspian flotilla was divided, as a result of which 30% of the floating and 100% of the coastal base of the Caspian flotilla passed to Azerbaijan. “The main backbone of the Navy is still made up of equipment left over from the Soviet era. But it is largely the Navy being modernized - not in last turn, thanks to the assistance of the Russian side. For example, ships are equipped with long-range warning systems and Uran-E anti-ship missiles, which began to arrive from Russia in 2014. The fleet is being brought into line with the solution of the current tasks - in particular, to protect against attacks by mobile terrorist groups that can use boats. At the maneuvers, the Navy proved that they can effectively deal not only with large military facilities, but with small and inconspicuous ones,” Mr. Velizade emphasized.
“Judging by the scale and objectives of the exercises, it can be said that the Navy also acts as an important resource that could, if necessary, support both the ground forces and combat aviation and in the expected offensive operations in the depths of the territory of the republic - in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the expert added.
According to the military expert captain of the third rank of the reserve Dmitry Litovkin, the coast guard of the State Border Service remains an important component of the naval power of Azerbaijan.
“Seriously, the coast guard of Azerbaijan should be strengthened by high-speed (developing a speed of 32 knots, that is, 60 km per hour) patrol ships of the coast guard, which are now being built in Israel by Israel Shipyards. As far as is known from open sources, six such ships will be purchased. In the foreseeable future, construction for the coast guard of Azerbaijan and Israeli-made corvettes is not ruled out. The commissioning of Israeli ships and boats will firmly provide Azerbaijan with the status of a third force in the Caspian Sea,” Mr. Litovkin told the Moscow-Baku portal.
The Naval Forces of Azerbaijan are 15 years old.
Project 10410 boat. Photo from the Encyclopedia "Arms and Technologies of Russia" About the author: Konstantin Chuprin is a journalist.
Of the union republics of the collapsed USSR that gained independence - Russia's neighbors in the Caspian Sea, only Azerbaijan had some right to its share in the ships and property of the Caspian flotilla Soviet Navy. This is explained not only by the fact that Baku was its main base, but also by certain historical prerequisites.
TWO BIRTHDAYS
In 1918, almost the entire Caspian flotilla of the collapsed Russian Empire came under the jurisdiction of the Musavat Republic of Azerbaijan. Its naval forces included the Kars and Ardagan seagoing gunboats, the Astrabad and Geok-Tepe messenger ships, the Araks hydrographic vessel and the Bailov port tug. Then the British handed over to Azerbaijan part of their warships and auxiliary watercraft - once Russian commercial ships, armed and suitably converted.However, Azerbaijani officers - in the recent past, sailors of the merchant fleet - were clearly burdened by the service. The few Russian officers who remained on the ships treated her no better, and there was nothing to say about the lower ranks. With such crews, ships and auxiliary vessels under the flag with a crescent and an eight-pointed star practically lost their combat effectiveness.
In the spring of 1920, the Azerbaijani Navy supported the local Bolsheviks, who, with the direct support of Soviet Russia, raised an uprising against the Musavatists, and were renamed the Red Fleet of Soviet Azerbaijan, headed by the communist engineer Chingiz Ildrym. In the summer of 1920, this fleet became part of the Naval Forces of the Caspian Sea (since 1931 - the Caspian Flotilla).
The division of the Red Banner Caspian Flotilla of the former USSR Navy between Baku and Moscow took place in July 1992, and from that time new story the national naval forces of Azerbaijan. The current number of their personnel is about 2500 people. The figure, of course, is modest, given that the country's armed forces number over 70,000 servicemen (and much more with paramilitary formations). But, for example, almost the same number of sailors serve in the Belgian Navy.
System military ranks Azerbaijani military sailors, Soviet-Russian: dyanizchi - sailor, bash dyanizchi - senior sailor, uchyunzhi, ikinzhi, birinzhi - foremen of the 3rd, 2nd and 1st articles, respectively, kichik (junior) midshipman, midshipman, bash (senior) midshipman, kichik (junior) lieutenant, lieutenant, bash (senior) lieutenant, captain-lieutenant, uchyunchi dyaryachzhyali captain (captain of the 3rd rank), ikinchi dyaryachzhyali - captain of the 2nd rank, birinchi dyaryachzhyali - captain of the 1st rank, rear admiral, vice admiral and admiral.
At present, the Azerbaijani Navy (commanded by Vice Admiral Shahin Sultanov) includes a brigade of surface ships, consisting of a water area protection division, a landing ship division, a minesweeper division, a search and rescue ship division, and a training ship division. There are also separate detachments of auxiliary vessels (according to other sources, the division of the protection of the water area has now been transformed into a brigade, and the division of "patrol ships" has been introduced into the brigade of surface ships).
Almost all ships and vessels are based in Baku (the historical naval region of Bailov). The Navy includes a battalion of marines and a special-purpose marine sabotage and reconnaissance center - military unit 641 (a detachment of combat swimmers) in the Zykh area on the outskirts of Baku. It is appropriate to emphasize that a great personal contribution was made to the formation of a detachment of Azerbaijani combat swimmers, created on the material and technical basis of the Caspian Flotilla’s naval reconnaissance point, where foreign special contingent was also trained. former commander(1969–1983) retired Captain 1st Rank Vitaly Pashits and some other Russian officers of the USSR Navy. Military unit 641 is armed with ultra-small submarines left to Azerbaijan (group carriers of combat swimmers) of the Triton-1M and Triton-2 types, as well as individual underwater vehicles for reconnaissance divers.
HERITAGE AND GIFT
Of the warships of the Red Banner Caspian Flotilla inherited by Azerbaijan, the largest was the 1040-ton guard ship "Bakinets" of project 159A. However, it was not possible to master the operation of this diesel-gas turbine anti-submarine TFR of the Azerbaijani Navy. This is clearly evidenced by the miserable appearance of the ship (tail number 404), moored - at least until recently - to the wall of a military shipyard (former SRZ No. 23 of the USSR Navy) in Baku. However, there is information that the TFR was put in for a major overhaul, during which 400-mm torpedo tubes and RBU-6000 were removed from it, and two 30-mm AK-230 assault rifles were installed behind the wheelhouse. According to the Azerbaijani national classification (a la NATO), the former patrol aircraft is classified as a frigate (in Azerbaijani “frecat”), although it is more of a corvette.As the most modern and combat-ready ship of the Azerbaijani Navy, according to, for example, the Russian reference book "Military Fleets of the World" (published in 2005), the former Soviet border artillery and anti-submarine boat of project 10410 is estimated - however, other sources do not confirm that this boat has it. countries.
The Araz anti-submarine boat, the former Turkish AB-34 of the Turk type, built in 1969, has a dubious combat value (the generous Turks donated the same boats to Kazakhstan and Georgia because they were not needed for the needs of their Navy).
The Azerbaijanis removed container launchers of P-15U anti-ship missiles from the project 205U (former R-173) missile boat, and now it forms one group of patrol boats with rather weak artillery weapons - a pair of 30-mm twin AK-230 anti-aircraft guns on each - together with two project 205P boats (former AK-234 and AK-374). Another two or three boats of project 205P are part of the coast guard of the marine units of the border troops of Azerbaijan. Apparently, due to the lack of anti-submarine torpedoes and specialists in their use and maintenance, according to the author, 400-mm torpedo tubes were removed from the boats of project 205P, although the Azerbaijanis initially attributed these combat units to the “torpedo katerliari” class.
To replenish the composition of the naval forces, the Azerbaijanis converted the former radiation-chemical reconnaissance ship of project 1388R (KRH-1) into patrol boats, installing two 14.5-mm twin 2M7 anti-aircraft machine gun mounts (it received tail number P212) and a former rescue project 368U boat (tail number Р219). The latter was armed according to the mobilization option provided for this project. The result was a kind of "small hunter" with a twin 25-mm 2M3M anti-aircraft gun and a 2M7 anti-aircraft machine gun mount, as well as two RBU-1200 rocket launchers - the level of the mid-50s of the last century. But, as they say, there is a fish for lack of fish and cancer. There is also a patrol boat (tail number 137) in the Azerbaijani fleet of the well-known "border" project 1400M with a 12.7-mm coaxial machine gun mount "Utes-M" - the former AK-55.
The mine-sweeping forces of the Azerbaijani Navy are represented by ships that more or less meet modern requirements - three project 12650 base minesweepers (former BT-16, BT-103, BT-155) and two project 1258 raid minesweepers (former RT-136 and RT-473). Minesweepers are called minatufan gamisi in Azerbaijani.
It is possible that one minesweeper of both projects has already been withdrawn from the fleet, and he has only two ships of project 12650 (tail numbers M325 and M326) and one project 1258 (board M237). Some sources claim that the Azerbaijanis have not two or three, but four project 12650 minesweepers, as well as one project 1252 base minesweeper (former BT-177), belonging to a small experimental series of mine finders - the world's first fiberglass mine defense ships.
The group of amphibious forces of the fleet includes small landing ships ("gyamisi landing") - three Polish-built (former MDK-107 project 771A - D-431, board 309, former MDK-37 and MDK-687 projects 770T and 770MA - D-432 and D-433, boards 291 and 380) and two projects 106 and 106K, known among sailors under the irreverent nickname "soap dishes". Bad reputation"soap dishes" in the Caspian is obliged to take place in the early 1960s. the case when, during an exercise near Baku, a sudden flurry sank several of these flat-bottomed boats with motorized rifles and tanks on board.
In general, the available outfit of landing ships of the Azerbaijani Navy can take on board 22 T-55 tanks or up to 800 marines, i.e. they are more than enough for the entire Azerbaijani marines. There is also a Project 1785 landing craft (former D-603) with a capacity of one T-72 tank or 20 marines.
To provide maritime practice for cadets of the Naval Academy of Azerbaijan, a training ship (“idaryaedichi gyamishi”) T-710 of project 888, built for the Soviet Navy in Poland (former Oka), is used. The T-710 is also used as a control ship. For training purposes, there are also three training boats of the UK-3 project, also of Polish origin.
The auxiliary fleet of the Azerbaijani Navy is represented by more than two dozen different vessels, of which one can note the shallow-draft tanker of project 10470, similar to the Oleg Koshevoy type (former bunkerer of the Sviyaga Caspian Oil Fleet), adopted after the collapse of the USSR from the civilian fleet with the assignment of the tail number A671, a small base tanker of project 1844 (tail number, possibly T752), two small hydrographic vessels of projects 871 and 872 (also "Poles"), two fire-fighting vessels (former PZhS-551 and PZhS-552) of project 1893 - another such vessel " General Hamidov" since Soviet times was part of the marine fire brigade of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, two fire-fighting boats of project 364 (former PZhK-12 and PZhK-179), a small cable ship (former "Emba") of project 1172, built in Finland (tail number T750 ) and an ambulance boat (with a hospital for 12 people) of the Polish project SK-620 (tail number 385).
RESERVE PLUS "NEW FRIENDS"
The current reserve of the Azerbaijani Navy is the coast guard of the country's maritime border units, which organizationally includes a brigade of patrol ships. In addition to two or three patrol boats (“sarkhyad katerlyari”) of project 205P, inherited from the former Baku separate brigade of border patrol ships of the KGB of the USSR, it includes the S-201 patrol boat built in 1969 decommissioned by the US Coast Guard (the former “Point Brower” type "Point" series "D"). Perhaps the Americans gave Azerbaijan another "Point" (the same "Mergen" is also in Turkmenistan). In addition, two or three Silver Ship 48-foot patrol boats and smaller boats have been received from the United States.The lack of modern border ships forced the command of the Azerbaijani Maritime Border Service to accept large sea supply tugs (with a displacement of about 3000 tons), previously owned by Kaspnefteflot, as part of the coast guard - to some extent, these are analogues of the Russian border patrol ships of project 745P half the displacement. We are talking about two Polish-built vessels of the Vikhr and Neftegaz types (projects B-92 and B-99) - S-0 and S-703. A feature of these ships is the possibility of using them as auxiliary landing transports, since they can be used to transport troops and military equipment. So, on the deck of a Naftogaz vessel, 13 BTR-60/70/80 amphibious armored personnel carriers can be placed, while landing of such armored vehicles by descending into the water from the stern is not ruled out. In any case, this technique was practiced in exercises during the existence of the USSR.
Azerbaijan's largest commercial fleet in the Caspian should be considered as a mobile reserve of the Navy. These are more than fifty ships with a displacement of 1000 gross tons or more, including the Bestekar Kara Karaev and Bestekar Fikret Amirov ro-ro ships, which can transport troops and military equipment- suffice it to say that the capacity of each ro-ro is 84 trucks of the KamAZ type. There are also 14 bulk carriers and 40 tankers. This should also include vessels of the Azerbaijani fishing and technical civilian fleet - potential auxiliary minesweepers, patrol ships, rescuers, etc.
The obvious drawback of the Azerbaijani Navy is the lack of their own specialized aviation - several Ka-27PS helicopters that Baku got at one time (used in search and rescue support for the operations of Azerbaijani aviation during the war in Karabakh) and the Be-12 amphibious seaplane have already exhausted their resource. However, to support and air cover the fleet, Azerbaijan can use combat aircraft and helicopters of the Air Force (for example, Su-25, L-39 attack aircraft, MiG-25 fighters and recently acquired MiG-29, Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters), however their capabilities should be viewed as limited, especially against the backdrop of the power of Iran's military aviation. The mobilization reserve of naval aviation is the Mi-8, Sikorsky S-76, Super Puma Eurocopter and Dofeng helicopters of the Azalgelikopter civil airline, which actively uses them to supply Caspian oil platforms. Some Azalgelikopter pilots have experience of combat operations in Karabakh.
In general, the Azerbaijani navy has not yet been able to become a serious power factor in the Caspian, although it nominally outnumbers the navies of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan combined in terms of combat strength.
An element of the Azerbaijani Navy, worthy special attention, is a sabotage and reconnaissance center for combat swimmers (military unit 641) - especially given the fact that instructors from NATO countries, in particular, special forces of the US Navy, have now taken over the baton in the training of the Azerbaijani naval special forces from former Soviet officers. So, rather reminiscent (from afar) of the flag of the Soviet Navy, the Azerbaijani naval flag - a red crescent with an eight-pointed star and a blue anchor on a white background above a blue wave along the lower edge - should not mislead those who suddenly imagine that Baku is nostalgic for Soviet past.
They have chosen the course of their fleet in Baku, and it lies in the wake of the United States and NATO. Russia's initiatives for joint "naval exploitation" of the Caspian under the pretext of confronting "international terrorism" are politely but firmly rejected by Azerbaijan. On the contrary, thanks to his cooperation with the West, the American military has already appeared in the Caspian under the same pretext. It is not for nothing that SEALs - American "fur seals" - have already conducted joint exercises with the Azerbaijani Navy in the Caspian Sea. Moreover, from the Soviet naval special forces, the “new friends” got the training ground on Wolf Island in the Baku Bay?
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In particular - to repel the attack of the Russians who arrived on numerous boats and tried to capture the city.
With the collapse in the middle of the 18th century of the Persian empire of Nadir Shah, which included the lands of Azerbaijan, several petty khanates appeared at enmity with each other, including Baku, whose ruler from 1747 to 1768 was Mirza Muhammad Khan - a man who did not alien to maritime affairs. Under him, the construction of ships began in Baku, not only commercial, but also military ones.
Little is known about the ancient Azerbaijani navigators. It is unlikely that their ships were masterpieces of shipbuilding, but the fact remains that attempts to create their own navy in Azerbaijan go back centuries.
MAIN BASE OF THE CASPIAN FLEET
The Baku military port is located in the western part of the Baku Bay (Bayil district). In 1867, the main base of the Russian Caspian flotilla was transferred to Baku from Astrakhan. The February Revolution and the October Revolution of 1917 also had a corrupting effect on the Caspian Flotilla - thus, at the request of the sailor lads, the commander Rear Admiral E.V. Klyupfel was expelled.
The revolutionary sailors supported the Bolshevik Baku Commune. Then the dashing brothers with the same ease supported the Menshevik-Socialist-Revolutionary Central Caspian (Central Committee of the Caspian Flotilla). After the fall of the Baku commune, followed by the short-lived dictatorship of the Central Caspian, almost the entire Caspian flotilla of the former Russian Empire came under the jurisdiction of the Musavatist Republic of Azerbaijan.
At first, during the occupation of Azerbaijan by the Turks, who took Baku in September 1918, bringing the government of the Musavatists here, Azerbaijan did not have a navy. In November of the same year, the Turks, who were defeated in the First World War, were replaced in Baku by the British - a 5,000-strong garrison led by General Thomson. The British handed over to the government of Azerbaijan the ships and vessels of the Russian Caspian flotilla, which had been taken away by order of the Central Caspian Sea to Petrovsk (now Makhachkala), but returned to Baku after the departure of the Turks.
At the end of August 1919, the evacuation of British troops from Baku began. The forces of the English navy (Royal Navy Caspian Flotilla), headed by Commodore Norris, who had been operating in the Caspian Sea since 1918, completed their mission at the theater. The British Navy handed over to the Azerbaijani Navy part of its warships and auxiliary watercraft - ships of the Russian commercial fleet, captured and armed by the British. Among them, in particular, were the auxiliary cruiser Pushkin, the gunboat Gretsia, the messenger ships Kursk and Oryol, and the hospital ship Alesgerie.
Ultimately, in the spring of 1920, the Azerbaijani Navy in full strength went over to the side of the Bolsheviks. They were headed by the Azerbaijani Bolshevik, engineer, ethnic Kurd Chingiz Ildrym. After the victory of the Bolsheviks, Ildrym became the People's Commissar of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic for military and naval affairs and the commander of the Red Fleet of Soviet Azerbaijan - this is how the national Navy was now called.
In the summer of 1920, the Red Fleet of Soviet Azerbaijan was merged with the Caspian Navy of the RSFSR into the Naval Forces of the Caspian Sea (since 1931 - the Caspian Flotilla). On this, the history of the actual national Azerbaijani military fleet was interrupted for 72 years.
SOVIET HERITAGE
The collapse of the USSR also affected the Caspian Flotilla. In the summer of 1992, its main forces, based in Baku, were divided between Russia and Azerbaijan. In addition to warships and vessels of almost all classes and auxiliary vessels available to the flotilla, Azerbaijan received at its disposal a well-equipped Baku naval base with large stocks of ammunition and materiel, a military shipyard No. 23 and other elements of the naval infrastructure.
The first ship to raise the state flag of Azerbaijan was the Bakunets patrol ship. It happened on July 26, 1992. This date marked the revival of the national Navy of Azerbaijan. The captain of the 1st rank Rafik Askerov, who did not particularly show himself in this post, became the commander, and in 1999 the Azerbaijani Navy was headed by a graduate of the navigation department of the Caspian Higher Naval Red Banner School named after S. M. Kirov, now Vice Admiral Shahin Sultanov.
In the early years of independence, the Azerbaijani leadership, mired in internal political and economic turmoil and an inglorious war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, had no time for the national navy and maintaining its ships in proper order. And military sailors were sent to the land front.
Baku craftsmen, having discovered several old 130-mm B-13 naval artillery mounts in the warehouses of the Caspian flotilla, placed them on railway platforms and sent them to shell Armenian positions from the Yevlakh-Stepanakert railway section. The ships of the Azerbaijani Navy were involved in suppressing the rebellion of the separatists in the south of the country, where they tried to proclaim the Talysh Mugan Republic.
In 1994, on the initiative of the then President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh were stopped, which saved this country from a national catastrophe. At the same time, Aliyev, a talented politician and experienced statesman, made energetic efforts to restore order in the armed forces, and it was under him that Azerbaijan began systematic military construction.
It is noteworthy that in 1997, the Milli Mejlis (parliament) of Azerbaijan approved a system of naval flags and pennants, the design concept of which clearly shows the influence of the Soviet system. From an aesthetic point of view, the blue and white with an anchor and a red crescent, the stern ensign of the Azerbaijani Navy can be classified as one of the most beautiful in the world. For ships and vessels of the naval units of the border troops, a flag of a traditional Soviet design has also been adopted today (a green field with a naval ensign in the roof).
With the appointment of energetic Shahin Sultanov to the post of commander of the Navy, a qualitatively new stage in their history began. Vice-Admiral Sultanov turned out to be an intelligent organizer: under him, the combat capability of the ships inherited by Azerbaijan was restored and, in addition, some auxiliary ships were turned into combat units.
FORCES, MEANS, NUMBERS
The personnel of the Azerbaijani Navy today is about 2500-3000 people. Training of officers of the fleet and naval units of the border troops is carried out at the Naval Academy of Azerbaijan (former KVVMKU named after S. M. Kirov) and military educational institutions of Turkey, and midshipmen and chavushs (foremen) of contract service - at the Naval Training Center.
The flagship of the Azerbaijani Navy is the 1040-ton patrol ship "Bakinets" ("SKR-16") of project 159A, built in 1967, renamed G121 "Kusar" (after the name of the Azerbaijani city of Kusar, in Soviet times - Kusary). During a lengthy repair, two 400-mm PTA-40-159 five-tube anti-submarine torpedo tubes were removed from the ship (some time later, two torpedo tubes were installed in the stern), a pair of RBU-6000 rocket launchers were retained, and artillery armament was strengthened - in addition In addition to two full-time two-gun 76-mm AK-726 artillery mounts, the Azerbaijanis installed a pair of double-barreled 30-mm AK-230 anti-aircraft guns on it.
The Azerbaijanis removed container launchers of P-15U anti-ship missiles from the R-173 project 205U "Tsunami" missile boat, renamed it S-008 and transferred it to the coast guard of the maritime units of the border troops. A pair of project 205P "Tarantula" artillery boats (former AK-234 and AK-374) were also transferred there. 400-mm anti-submarine torpedo tubes were removed from Project 205P boats.
In order to replenish the composition of the combat ship forces, the Azerbaijanis converted the former project 1388R radiation-chemical reconnaissance ship (former KRKh-1) into patrol boats, installing two 14.5-mm twin 2M7 anti-aircraft machine gun mounts (it received tail number P212), and a former project 368U rescue boat (tail number R219). The latter was armed more seriously: twin 25-mm 2M3M anti-aircraft guns and 14.5-mm 2M7 anti-aircraft machine guns, as well as two RBU-1200 rocket launchers. It turned out to be a kind of small hunter of the level of the 50s.
Three former training boats of the Caspian flotilla of the Polish project UK-3 also received 2M7 anti-aircraft machine-gun "sparks" - now they also belong to the patrol class and carry tail numbers P213, P214 and P215. There are also two patrol boats R217 and R218 of project 722 of Polish construction (former Soviet messenger boats, after being accepted into the Azerbaijani Navy, each also armed with a 2M7 installation).
There is also a patrol boat R222 in the Azerbaijani fleet, well-known in many countries of the world of the Soviet project 1400M "Grif" with a 12.7-mm coaxial machine gun "Utes-M".
The only foreign acquisition of the Azerbaijani Navy was the old, built in 1949 anti-submarine boat P223 "Araz" - the former Turkish AB-34 of the "Turk" type.
The mine-sweeping forces of the Azerbaijani Navy are represented by ships that more or less meet modern requirements: three basic minesweepers of project 12650 "Yakhont" (M325, M326 and M327) and two raids of project 1258 "Korund" (M237 and M328).
The group of amphibious forces of the fleet includes small landing ships - four Polish-built (project 771A - D433, projects 770MA and 770T - D431, D432 and D434) and two projects 106K (D435 and D436). There is also a Project 1785 landing craft D437.
The auxiliary fleet of the Azerbaijani Navy is represented by more than two dozen different vessels, of which the project 10470 deep-sea diving support vessel A671 (formerly Sviyaga), project 1844 offshore tanker T752, two small hydrographic vessels of projects 871 (tail number H561) and 872 can be noted (both Polish-built), two fire-fighting vessels (former PZhS-551 and PZhS-552) of project 1893, two fire-fighting boats A643 and A644 of project 364, a small cable ship T750 (former "Emba") of the Finnish project 1172, diving boats of project 1896 ( A641) and project 1415 (A648), hospital boat A649 of the Polish project SK-620, road tugs of project 737 (T757) and project 9.8057 (built by the GDR - T758), etc. There is also a 106-meter non-self-propelled repair floating dock .
SWIMERS, SUBS, AIRCRAFT
Almost all ships and vessels are based in Baku (the historical naval region of Bailov). The Navy also includes a marine battalion and a special-purpose naval sabotage and reconnaissance center - military unit 641 (a detachment of combat swimmers), stationed on the seashore, in the Zykh area on the outskirts of Baku (not far from the Naval Academy). In some sources, this unit is called a brigade. It was created on the material basis of the former naval reconnaissance point of the Caspian Flotilla of the USSR Navy.
Military unit 641 is armed with ultra-small submarines left to Azerbaijan (group carriers of combat swimmers) of the Triton-1M and Triton-2 types, as well as individual underwater means of propulsion for reconnaissance divers - torpedo-shaped carriers of the Siren type and others. Now instructors from NATO countries, in particular SEALs of the US Navy SEAL sabotage and reconnaissance units and instructors from the private American company Blackwater USA, have taken the baton in the training of the special forces of the Azerbaijani Navy from former Soviet officers.
An obvious shortcoming of the Azerbaijani Navy is the lack of its own specialized aviation: several Ka-27PS helicopters and three Be-12 amphibious seaplanes that Baku got at one time have already exhausted their resources. However, to support and air cover the fleet, Azerbaijan can use combat aircraft and helicopters of the Air Force (for example, Su-24M front-line bombers, Su-25 attack aircraft, L-39 combat training aircraft, MiG-29 front-line fighters, Mi-8 and Mi- 24). The mobilization reserve of naval aviation is the Mi-8, Sikorsky S-76, Eurocopter "Super Puma" and "Dofen" helicopters of the Azalgelikopter civil airline, which actively uses them to supply the Caspian oil platforms. In the interests of the Navy, the newest Be-200ES amphibious rescue seaplane of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan, recently acquired in Russia, can also be used.
The current reserve of the Azerbaijani Navy is the coast guard of the maritime units of the country's border troops. In addition to three patrol boats (according to the Soviet classification - border patrol ships of the 3rd rank, in the Navy - artillery boats) of project 205P (now S-005, S-006 and S-007), inherited from the Caspian flotilla and the 17th separate brigade patrol boats of the Border Troops of the USSR, as well as the former project 205U S-008 missile boat mentioned above, it includes the S-201 patrol boat built in 1969 decommissioned by the US Coast Guard (the former Point Brower of the Point type D series).
