The Republic of Armenia, like any peace-loving state, will develop and transform the Armed Forces not to aggression, but to defend itself from aggression. The Republic of Armenia has no intention to conquer territories. The Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced about this in the National Assembly during the presentation of the Government Program 2021-2026.

The Armed Forces Reform Strategy is largely based on an analysis of the lessons learned from the 44-day war and the post-November 9 security environment. The government will define the main guidelines, long-term planning issues and resources on which the development of the defense system of the Republic of Armenia, the fifth generation warfare toolkit, will be based.

In the future, the protection of the parts of the state borders of Armenia, which are currently carried out by the Armenian Armed Forces, will be carried out by the border troops, and the army units will deal with the issues of combat readiness and increasing combat efficiency.

“We do not see guarding the border as soldier’s business; border guarding should be reserved for border troops. And the soldier must be engaged in the development of combat readiness. We aim to significantly change the terms of service, we must pay great attention to the reservists,” Pashinyan said, emphasizing that they also aim to increase not only the salaries of servicemen, but also to ensure all social regulations.

In the strategic perspective, the Republic of Armenia will gradually make a transition to a professional army, and the structure of conscription and military service will change significantly. The involvement of women in the armed forces will continue to grow.

“The professional army is used when there is an attack on the Republic of Armenia. If there is no attack, the army continues to remain in permanent locations, military schools,” Pashinyan said.

The government’s program states that taking into account the prospects for the development and improvement of military service, in the near future the Government will seek to reduce the length of military service due to the growth of contract service. In this way, the Government will stimulate both the material and moral-psychological mechanisms of military service.