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The Nagorno-Karabakh war is considered to be the first conflict to highlight the crucial role of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs/drones) in warfare, the Greek City Times reports, adding they dealt a crushing blow to conventional ground military forces.

The source reminds that Azerbaijan used drones to pave the way for the Azeri military to take control of strategic points in Nagorno-Karabakh and achieve an extensive victory against Armenian forces.

The use of drones in Nagorno-Karabakh was highlighted in an analysis by the Israeli BESA Center, which describes it as the first postmodern war and explains its key features, such as reduced losses for those that have included drones in its strategic plans. Azerbaijan has used oil and gas export revenues to modernize part of its armed forces, but mainly to invest in a drone fleet and a high-precision ballistic missile force.

"The second Nagorno-Karabakh war is described as the first postmodern war, as a lot of activity was videotaped and broadcast by drones operating on the battlefield. One of the key features of this new kind of air warfare is the lack of accidents or downing of aircraft, which burdens the governments of the warring parties financially, but also affects them negatively in the psychological field," according to the source. 

It notes that as a result, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict could boost global demand for UAVs and accelerate the development of offensive and defensive electronic warfare systems. The lessons of the Caucasus war may spark a new arms race between countries such as Turkey, which are producing such advanced UAVs, and other countries against which they could be used.