THE STRATEGY OF THE USE OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES IN THE SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 2020 HOSTILITIES IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH. THE MILITARY AND INFORMATIONAL DIMENSION

The Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh (or Artsakh Republic, the Armenian name) remains one of the main factors of instability in Transcaucasia. Although open hostilities between the Armenian and Azerbaijan armed forces were interrupted in May 1994, there have been constant incidents on the line of contact, the last being in 2016. In September-November 2020, the incidents escalated into an armed conflict between the parties with the use of conventional military equipment and modern military combat technologies, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Armenian-Azerbaijan hostilities from September-November 2020 are distinguished, in particular, by the mass use by the Azerbaijan side of modern unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for reconnaissance and attack missions. This factor and strategy determined the successes of Azerbaijan during the conflict. Other important aspects of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the September-November 2020 hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh were psychological operations and the dissemination of real-time information through the digital unmanned aerial vehicle system. Thus, drones have become the tool of the parties to obtain international support and raise awareness of the cause of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the digital environment.