Every war the Azerbaijani Air Forces have fought
The Azerbaijani Air Forces have fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, in 1992–1994 and in 2020, and a series of clashes between them. Nagorno-Karabakh was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan throughout; Armenian forces held it and seven surrounding districts from 1994, withdrew from the districts after the 2020 war, and the offensive of September 2023, which Baku called local anti-terrorist measures and Armenian authorities called ethnic cleansing, ended the self-declared Armenian republic. Where the two governments’ claims differ, both are given. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From the first Karabakh war to the September 2023 offensive.
| Conflict | Years | Against | Main aircraft | Sorties | Aircraft lost | |
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| First Nagorno-Karabakh Warthe first Karabakh warAzerbaijani Air and Air Defence Force | 1988–1994 | Karabakh Armenian forces and Armenia | MiG-25, Su-24, Su-25and 5 more | |||
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Close air support, bombing and helicopter operations against Karabakh Armenian and Armenian forces, including attacks on Stepanakert and other towns. The air force fought this war within months of its own creation, with whatever the Soviet forces had left behind and aircraft bought from former Soviet stocks. English Wikipedia describes about 45 combat aircraft, often flown by Russian and Ukrainian mercenaries recruited from the old Soviet forces. Human Rights Watch, in its December 1994 report, recorded that Azerbaijani forces subjected Karabakh, including civilians, to “a withering air and artillery bombardment during the summer of 1992”, listed “indiscriminate use of air power resulting in civilian casualties” among Azerbaijani violations, and urged Baku to stop attacks “especially by aircraft without precision bombing devices”. The same report documented violations by Karabakh Armenian forces, including forced displacement of the Azerbaijani population and the killing of more than 200 civilians at Khojaly in February 1992. By 1994 Su-25s were being used in the renewed offensives. On the Armenian side, the small Armenian air force lost helicopters and a Su-25 in engagements over the front in 1992–93. The overall death toll is itself disputed; figures in English Wikipedia range from about 6,000 Armenian and 11,557 Azerbaijani dead. Outcome Ceasefire of 12 May 1994 (Bishkek Protocol); Armenian forces held Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory. All aircraft-loss figures for this war come from partisan or secondary compilations and are not independently verified; they are given as a range, not a fact.
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| Line-of-contact incidentsthe 2014 Mi-24 shoot-downAzerbaijani Armed Forces (air defence) | 1994–2020 | Armenia | 0 | |||
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Air defence along the ceasefire line; on 12 November 2014 Azerbaijani forces shot down an Armenian Mi-24 with an Igla-S missile. The 1994 ceasefire was never a peace, and air defence was part of the daily friction. The best-documented incident came on 12 November 2014 near Kengerli in the Aghdam district, when an Armenian Mi-24 was shot down with an Igla-S portable missile and its three crew were killed. Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said the helicopter had made attack manoeuvres close to its positions; Armenian officials said it was unarmed, had not entered Azerbaijani airspace and was taking part in exercises. The analyst Thomas de Waal wrote that it came down in the no-man’s land between the armies after apparently breaking an informal five-kilometre no-fly zone. Outcome The ceasefire held in name, with periodic fighting. The two governments’ accounts of the 2014 incident contradict each other and are given side by side.
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| April 2016 clashesthe Four-Day WarAzerbaijani Air Forces and drone units | 2016 | Karabakh Armenian forces and Armenia | Mi-24, IAI Harop, Orbiter | 1 | ||
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Helicopter and drone operations during four days of fighting; first combat use of the IAI Harop. The April 2016 fighting was the heaviest since 1994 and a preview of 2020. An Azerbaijani Mi-24 was shot down on the first full day, a loss the Azerbaijani defence ministry confirmed. On 5 April an Israeli Harop loitering munition hit a bus carrying Armenian volunteers and killed seven people, the first recorded combat use of the type. Casualty figures depend on who is counting: Armenia reported 91 troops killed and nine civilians; Azerbaijan officially reported 31 soldiers killed, while social-media research cited by Wikipedia put the figure at 94, and six civilians; the US State Department estimated about 350 casualties in all. Outcome Moscow-brokered ceasefire on 5 April 2016; Azerbaijan claimed 800–2,000 hectares, Armenia acknowledged losing about 800 hectares of no strategic importance. Casualty and territorial figures are each government’s own and are contested.
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| July 2020 border clashesthe Tovuz clashesAzerbaijani Armed Forces | 2020 | Armenia | Drones | |||
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Drone operations in four days of fighting on the international border, far from Karabakh. Between 12 and 16 July 2020 the two armies fought on the border between Tovuz and Tavush. Armenia reported six soldiers killed; Azerbaijan reported 12 servicemen and one civilian killed. The Armenian defence ministry said it had shot down 13 Azerbaijani drones, ten of them combat drones, and showed video of a downed Hermes 900; Azerbaijan denied losing any drones. No manned aircraft engagements were confirmed. Outcome Fighting stopped after 16 July 2020. Drone-loss claims are Armenian and denied by Azerbaijan. |
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| Second Nagorno-Karabakh Warthe 44-day war (in Azerbaijan the Patriotic War)Azerbaijani Air Forces and drone units | 2020 | Armenia and Karabakh Armenian forces | Bayraktar TB2, IAI Harop, Orbiterand 5 more | |||
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Drone reconnaissance and strike against Armenian air defence, artillery and armour, directing artillery fire; Su-25 and helicopter support. The 44 days from 27 September 2020 were the first war widely described as decided by drones. CSIS analysts wrote that the TB2 “performed well in targeting and destroying enemy defenses”, working with Israeli Harop, Orbiter and SkyStriker munitions and with manned aircraft and artillery; Azerbaijan used Soviet-era An-2 biplanes converted to remote control as decoys to draw out Armenian air defences, and President Aliyev said his forces had destroyed seven S-300 launchers, two guidance stations and a radar. Manned aircraft flew and bled: a Su-25 was shot down on 4 October, probably by an Osa missile according to English Wikipedia, killing Colonel Zaur Nudiraliyev, later named a Hero of the Patriotic War. Armenia said on 29 September that a Turkish F-16 had shot down an Armenian Su-25; Turkey and Azerbaijan denied it and said two Armenian Su-25s had crashed for non-combat reasons. On 9 November Azerbaijani forces shot down a Russian Mi-24 over Armenia with a portable missile, killing two; Baku called it an accident, apologised and offered compensation. Official military deaths: Azerbaijan 2,906, Armenia 3,825. Outcome Ceasefire of 9–10 November 2020 signed by Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia; Armenian forces withdrew from the surrounding districts and about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers deployed. Wikipedia places the Su-25 loss near Fuzuli and Nudiraliyev’s biography in Jabrayil. Aircraft loss claims by both sides differ widely; only losses acknowledged by Azerbaijan or visually confirmed are given.
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| September 2023 offensivein Azerbaijani official language, local anti-terrorist measuresAzerbaijani Armed Forces | 2023 | Karabakh Armenian forces | ||||
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Part of a one-day offensive; the specific role of aviation and drones was not documented in the sources consulted. On 19 September 2023 Azerbaijan launched what its defence ministry called local anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh, citing landmine deaths; Armenian authorities accused it of ethnic cleansing. A ceasefire brokered by Russian peacekeepers took effect at 13:00 the next day. Almost the entire Armenian population left within two weeks. Nagorno-Karabakh was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan throughout; the self-declared Armenian republic dissolved on 1 January 2024, though its president later disputed the validity of the decree. Outcome Ceasefire on 20 September 2023; the Karabakh Armenian authorities agreed to disarm, about 100,600 people had reached Armenia by 3 October, and a decree dissolved the self-declared republic’s institutions by 1 January 2024. The operation’s name and character are described differently by each government and both are given.
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Every figure, checked
- Human Rights Watch/Helsinki: Azerbaijan – Seven Years of Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh (December 1994)Violations by both sides; Azerbaijani indiscriminate use of air power, summer 1992 bombardment; Khojaly.
- CSIS: The Air and Missile War in Nagorno-Karabakh (Shaan Shaikh and Wes Rumbaugh, 8 December 2020)TB2, Harop, Orbiter, SkyStriker; An-2 decoys; Aliyev’s S-300 claims.
- Oryx: The Fight for Nagorno-Karabakh – documenting losses on the sides of Armenia and AzerbaijanVisually confirmed losses only; An-2 decoys listed outside cumulative totals.
Figures verified 2026-09-30. Back to the Azerbaijani Air Forces.