They are part of a Defense Ministry “concept” of reforming the Armenian army which was recently approved by the National Security Council. The document does not specify the reduction in the length of the military duty that has long been set at 24 months.
It says that the ministry will offset the resulting drop in the number of conscripts under arms by recruiting more contract soldiers. This is supposed to be done through an existing program that gives conscripts the option of signing a five-year contract with the Armenian military after only six months of service.
Defense Minister Suren Papikian touted the scheme as a success when he spoke in the Armenian parliament earlier this month. Papikian said that “numerous young men are becoming part of our professional army” in this way. He said they are attracted by higher wages offered by the military.
Leonid Nersisian, a military analyst with the APRI Armenia think-tank, said the Defense Ministry will need to recruit at least 6,500 more contract soldiers if it shortens compulsory service by just six months. He questioned its ability to do that.
“I will be pleasantly surprised if that works out,” Nersisian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Friday.
Tigran Abrahamian, an opposition lawmaker with defense background, criticized the planned measure, saying that it is reckless given Armenia’s current shortage of military personnel and the lingering risk of another war with Azerbaijan. He accused Papikian of grossly exaggerating recent years’ pay increases for contract soldiers.
Abrahamian suggested that the promised shorter service is designed to earn Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s party more voters in the next general elections due in June 2026.
Pashinian had already pledged to gradually make the Armenia’s conscription-based army fully “professional” in the run-up to the last elections in 2021. He set no time frames for that transition.
Abrahamian claimed that Pashinian may also be bowing to Azerbaijan’s demands for a downsizing of the army made during ongoing negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.
Senior Azerbaijani officials regularly state that Armenia’s “militarization” is one of the obstacles to such a deal. One of them called in September for “restrictions” to be placed on the Armenian armed forces.
Azerbaijan’s own military buildup has continued even after the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku plans to spend $4.9 billion on defense and national security next year. Armenia’s 2025 defense budget is projected at $1.7 billion.