Armenian Military Parade Appears To Include Iranian Air Defense System

YEREVAN -- Armenia has staged a Republic Day military parade showcasing hardware including rocket launchers, drones, and armored vehicles from countries such as France and India -- as well as what appears to be an Iranian air defense system.

A weapons purchase from Tehran could strike an awkward note as Armenia forges closer relations with Washington, with the Yerevan parade coming just hours after US President Donald Trump endorsed Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7.

The first reported sighting of the AD-08 Majid, a truck-mounted short-range air defense system, came during rehearsals for the parade the previous day. Multiple Armenian media outlets carried photos of what they identified as partially covered Majids.

On May 28, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service witnessed the same systems trundling across Republic Square with the covers off. But amid a martial drumbeat, an official announcer was coy about their origin.

"The Scorpion short-range self-propelled surface-to-air missile system is designed for the detection and destruction of low-flying aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as for the air defense of vital military and industrial facilities," he said.

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Scorpion appears to be a local, Armenian name conferred on the system by the authorities. Localized names were also given to some weapons systems from other nations. For example French Caesar howitzers were named Aramazd after a god in Armenian mythology.

A spokesman for the Defense Ministry in Yerevan was also cautious, declining to confirm or deny if the Scorpion was actually of Iranian origin.

But Sirous Amerian, a New Zealand-based military affairs analyst, told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda he had no doubts about the system's origin.

“Anyone who sees images of these Iranian systems can effectively identify them without needing official Armenian confirmation,” he said.

“If you look at the components and structure of this system and compare it with images of the Majid system, in my opinion there is about a 99.5 percent overlap. Therefore, it is most likely the same system. So, either due to local requirements, or perhaps Armenia -- because it is not under sanctions -- has access to a better, international chassis, instead of, for example, an Iranian Aras vehicle, they mounted it on an (Italian) Iveco chassis,” he added.

Why The Majid?

The Majid is a relatively new Iranian system, first used by Iran during the 12-day war with Israel last year, according to the Tehran Times.

Armenia would be the first country to buy it, Defense Security Asia wrote on May 27.

“It can position itself somewhere, deploy its stabilizers, activate its optics, scan, fire its missile, and five minutes later be 5-10 kilometers away. This mobility, lightness, and the fact that everything is integrated into a single vehicle is very attractive,” Amerian told RFE/RL.

Iranian authorities have claimed effective use of the Majid against US forces in March and April, including an incident in which an F-35 jet was damaged, but this could not be independently confirmed.

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Pashinian said the point of the Yerevan parade was to present a report to the nation on the weapons Armenia has purchased to upgrade its armed forces since their defeat in a war with neighboring Azerbaijan in 2023.

That conflict exposed Armenia’s vulnerability to drone attacks and resulted in 100,000 ethnic Armenians fleeing their homes as Azerbaijan regained control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"The transformation of the army is not about war, but about peace,” Pashinian said on May 28. “We set a task to increase Armenia's defense capability.” He said the parade featured hardware from seven countries. This included French Bastion armored vehicles, American M2 machine guns, and Russian Mi-17 helicopters.

Elections And Endorsements

Pashinian faces a battle for reelection on June 7, fighting on a platform about pivoting Armenia away from its long-standing reliance on Moscow and toward realigning with Washington. This has gained the backing of the US president.

“Nikol has my complete and total endorsement for reelection,” wrote Trump on social media on May 27. His comments followed a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 26, in which he said Pashinian promised “a brighter and more independent future for Armenia.”

Pashinian has also been seeking closer ties with the European Union, passing a law declaring Armenia’s intention of gaining eventual EU membership.

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This geopolitical shift drew a broadside from Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on May 28.

“We can’t not be disturbed by the course taken by the Armenian leadership toward closer ties with the North Atlantic alliance whose basic policy is aimed against Moscow,” she said.

But while Pashinian aims to refocus foreign policy, he can’t change Armenia’s geography. Hemmed in by a largely hostile Turkey and Azerbaijan, the country has close economic ties with neighboring Iran, which supplies petroleum and industrial goods and was also, prior to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for Armenian trade.

What Iran makes of Armenia’s pro-Western course is not clear. Iran’s ambassador to Armenia, Khalil Shirgholami, was among the guests observing the parade.

Amerian, the military analyst, believes pragmatism will probably continue to guide Iran’s attitude to Armenia.

“Iran does not seem to perceive Armenia’s Western tilt as threatening, and this sale may have been driven simply by the opportunity to export. For a country like Iran, exporting $500 million -- reportedly the value of these contracts -- is not insignificant,” he said.