Azerbaijan Navy

The Azerbaijan Navy (Azeri: Azərbaycan Hərbi Dəniz Donanması) refers to the Navy defense forces of Azerbaijan established in the Caspian Sea.

trength

The navy has about 5,000 personnel in sixteen units including the Caspian Flotilla and a Border Coast Guard. The navy has 7 patrol boats consisting out of; 2 - OSA-II-Class and 5 - Stenka-Class patrol boats. There are 7 minesweepers consisting out of; 2 - Sonya-Class and 5 - Yevgenya-Class minesweepers. There are 6 landing crafts, 2 landing cutters, 1 special purposes warship and 1 special purposes cutter.

In 2000 Azerbaijan acquired a AB-25 patrol cutter from Turkey, Point patrol cutter from USA in 2003, 2 small patrol cutters from USA in 2001 and 30 small patrol cutters from Turkey in 2001 – 2005. [ [http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=52414 List of military techniques Azerbaijan acquired over the past 7 years] ]

Cooperation with U.S.

In 2004 the U.S. Navy SEAL team from Little Creek Amphibious Base, Va., participate in joint exercises with the Azeri Army’s 641st Special Warfare Naval Unit, headquartered at the Azeri Naval Station outside Baku.

In 2005, Blackwater USA's Maritime Division was contracted to conduct interdiction training for the Azerbaijani Naval Sea Commandos. [ [http://www.blackwaterusa.com/training/inter_default.asp Blackwater Training ] ]

In 2006 the US Government donated three motorboats updated to the latest technology to the Azerbaijani navy. There is also an agreement to provide US support to refurbish Azeri warships in the Caspian sea.

On May 19, 2006 Azeri and Turkish Navy held joint military exercises on safeguarding the security of oil and gas pipelines in Baku. The training session was observed by the Azerbaijan Navy commander Shahin Sultanov and Turkish Armed Forces attaché Seyhan Ceyhan.The activities aimed to ensure the safety of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), the main export pipeline to take Caspian oil to Turkey and further to world markets, as well as on expanding cooperation between the two countries’ military.The exercises started with the clearance of mines that ended up on the seabed. This was followed by rendering harmless the traps planted in the area by symbolic terrorists. The training concluded with the practice of a maritime and air operations. A similar exercise is expected to take place in Turkey soon [ [http://azernews.net/eng/gizli/view.php?d=14941] Dead link|date=March 2008] .

In 2007 an agreement between Azeri Navy and one of the US military companies was concluded, which stated that a part of the Azeri Navy would be equipped with advanced laser marksmanship device/system. The US company specialists were also to give training for the use of new equipment. As a comment on this Colonel Lieutenant Eldar Safarov said that the work on modernization of warships will continue. [ [URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/40483.html Azeri Navy to be equipped with marksmanship system lasers] ]

Caspian Guard Initiative

The Caspian Guard Initiative is a framework program designed to coordinate activities in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan with those of U.S. Central Command and other U.S government agencies to enhance Caspian security. The initiative assists the two countries in improving their ability to prevent and, if needed, respond to terrorism, nuclear proliferation, drug and human trafficking, and other transnational treats in the Caspian region. EUCOM is responsible for operations in Azerbaijan [ [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2006/20060309_4440.html DefenseLink News Article: European Command Transforming to Accommodate New Challenges ] ] .

ee also

* Azerbaijan
* Military of Azerbaijan
* Azerbaijan Army
* Azerbaijan Air Force
* Azerbaijan Air Defense Force
* Azerbaijan National Guard
* Azerbaijan Border Guard
* Azerbaijan Interior Guard
* Azerbaijan Coast Guard
* Caspian Guard Initiative
* Azerbaijan Defense Industry

References