Armenia contracts to buy Indian ZADS C-UAS system to counter Azerbaijan

Unconfirmed press and social media reports circulating in the last several days suggest that Armenia has contracted with India for the supply of an unidentified quantity of the Zen Anti-Drone System (ZADS). The Indian Army awaits delivery of the system, developed by Zen Technologies Limited of Hyderabad, next year under a USD27 million order for 20 units placed in 2021.

The fact that the Indian Army has procured the system has been taken as something of an endorsement by Armenia, according to sources close to the alleged transaction, which is said to be valued in the region of USD41 million. Unmanned Airspace understands the order covers both the ZADS system and an unspecified volume of training solutions – Zen’s other core business focus.

ZADS is designed to a multi-layer, multi-sensor architecture and offers operators detection, classification, tracking and drone defeat capabilities. The early days of Armenia’s current conflict with Azerbaijan were marked by Azeri use of Bayraktar TB-2 UAS, which caused significant damage to Armenian infrastructure and equipment, having a strategic effect on the outcome of the conflict. A fragile peace is currently in place and Armenia would appear to be making considerable efforts to bolster its future defences. The nation is something of a strategic partner for India, and recently procured Pinaka multiple rocket launchers and munitions to the value of USD250 million.

Zen Technologies Limited has announced it is to establish a branch office in Armenia to provide sales, support and service for its solutions.