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Comment by wikidani | Hacker News Reader

I believe that the Armenian defeat was caused by their soviet era tactics and command and the fact that the Azeris had a way better strategic position than the Armenians. Also, drones could have been replaced with pretty much any other plane on that war, Armenia just didn't have air superiority, air defense or mitigation tactics on the lower levels

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Armenia defeated Azerbeidzjan in the early 90s, whom then spent 30 years building up their military forces with oil money and get revenge. The outcome was never in question.

It's perhaps not all that dissimilar a story with China's PLA.

Who defeated or went to war with China's PLA in the comparison story? Vietnam?

Taiwan. It was the US Navy that made it clear that they would fire upon any Chinese who went after the fleeing Nationalists.

Mao actually assumed the USSR would back him up but he was betrayed.

> I believe that the Armenian defeat was caused by their soviet era tactics and command

The military doctrine hasn't changed much from the soviet era, except guess what: drones!

Azeri doctrine changed to reflect a more western style. Also, if you watch drone footage from the war, you'll see that the armenian infantry and armor took very few (if any) measures to mitigate that disadvantage, there's a seriously noticeable lack of dispersion, camouflage and many identifiable patterns throughout the war that could have been changed if a more western, professional approach had been taken

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