The American analytical center «Stratfor» wrote about the news on Azerbaijan’s purchase of the “Iron Dome”.

Experts from the center question whether this purchase will be useful. The article notes that just before Israeli Prime Minister, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees Moscow’s arms sales, was in Baku. Thus, Azerbaijan would have wanted to be forthcoming with Russia about what kind of system it was buying from Israel and, more importantly, whether it would challenge the military balance Moscow works to maintain between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

However, according to experts of the center, the motivation behind the purchase is unclear: “Armenia had recently acquired Iskander ballistic missiles, greatly increasing its military capabilities, but the Iron Dome batteries would be useless against the high-flying Iskanders. Azerbaijan already possesses S-300 and Barack-8 systems that are effective against Iskander missiles.

Moreover, it is unclear how many Iron Dome batteries Azerbaijan bought. Israel, for instance, owns 10 Iron Dome batteries, which can cost up to $50 million each, with rockets estimated to cost $100,000 each. It was assumed that financial limitations would prevent Azerbaijan from buying many batteries. But considering reports that recent arms deals between Israel and Azerbaijan have totaled $5 billion, Azerbaijan could have bought several batteries”, – the article says.