YEREVAN — Local defense industry companies have received licenses to export military products for the first time, Minister of High-Tech Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan announced.
According to the minister, this is an exceptional development, as Armenian companies had previously focused exclusively on meeting the needs of the country’s own armed forces.
Hayrapetyan noted that between 2023 and 2025, the Armenian government allocated approximately 172 billion drams in state defense orders to the military-industrial complex. This, he said, enabled leading companies to expand their production and technological capacities.
“Several companies recognized this opportunity, conducted negotiations competently, and were able to find markets for themselves,” the minister stated, adding that export permits were granted only after assessing all political and economic risks.
He emphasized that the defense industry is viewed as one of the most important and export-oriented sectors of the economy. For security reasons, however, the minister refrained from disclosing details about the types of products being exported or their destinations.
According to Hayrapetyan, what became possible in 2025 would not have been feasible in previous years, as the industry has only a few years of history and is still undergoing natural development.
Addressing Armenia’s acquisition of “V-BAT” unmanned aerial vehicles from the American company Shield AI, Hayrapetyan clarified that Armenian companies do not yet offer comparable technological solutions. He stated that if local manufacturers had competitive products meeting the required standards, imports would not have been necessary, since his ministry’s mandate is to promote domestic production.
“We must assess ourselves realistically and soberly, acknowledging that we still have a long way to go before producing globally competitive products,” he said.
The United States recently announced, for the first time, a major sale of military technology to Armenia. The deal involves the delivery of $11 million worth of vertical takeoff and landing reconnaissance “V-BAT” drones. The announcement was made by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance in Yerevan on February 9, following talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
According to Hayrapetyan, cooperation with Shield AI creates new opportunities for the Ministry of High-Tech Industry to expand dialogue on knowledge and technology transfer, as well as joint research initiatives. He noted that the decision to purchase the American UAVs was an important step both in strengthening the capabilities of Armenia’s armed forces and in advancing Armenia–U.S. strategic cooperation, as meeting the specific technical requirements through domestic production is currently not feasible.
