President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev has attended the opening of an experimental plant of the Ministry of Defense Industry after major overhaul.
The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the plant.
President Ilham Aliyev laid flowers at the bust of nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev in the courtyard of the plant.
Then, President Ilham Aliyev visited the Heydar Aliyev Museum established in the office building of the plant. The museum, where a bust of nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev is erected, extensively describes the contribution of the great leader to army building in the country, as well as the care and attention of the President Ilham Aliyev to the development of the army and the defense industry.
Then the head of state reviewed the training room in the office building of the enterprise. Defense Industry Minister Yavar Jamalov noted that in 2012, on orders of the Ministry, a faculty of specialized equipment and technology had been set up within the Azerbaijan Technical University. The faculty provides education to 74 students and teaches specialties such as
the production of weapons and weapons systems, opto-technical and firework systems, the technology for the production of composite materials and defense products, operation and maintenance of multichannel tropospheric communication equipment.
It was noted during familiarization with the enterprise that the plant began to operate as “Climate” design office of the Baku Aircraft Production Association in 1990. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the activities of the company were limited. The main goal of the reconstruction of the plant has been to conduct research and development activities aimed at the creation, modernization and mass production of firearms, including submachine guns, machineguns and sniper rifles, and production of samples, in accordance with specific standards, conforming to the requirements of test methods and programs.
During familiarization with the design office, President Ilham Aliyev was informed that its activities had expanded after the establishment of the Ministry of Defense Industry. The development and production of first national sniper rifles "Istiglal" have been completed. The trials of "Istiglal-2", "Istiglal-4", "Istiglal-1T", "Shimshek-9" and other defense weapons are
currently under way. As per instructions of the President of Azerbaijan, the focus of the design office is on the efficiency of development and production of defense products. To this end, a new office building has been constructed, facilitating productive work of designers. Modern production sites for the assembly of experimental prototypes have been established and fitted with the necessary equipment. The design office is also equipped with modern facilities. It has
three- and four-coordinate centers of milling and turning, universal milling machines, laser carving and laser erosion tools.
President Ilham Aliyev reviewed the monitoring devices, armored vehicles and firearms designed and manufactured at the plant. It was noted that the capacity of the special purpose patrol "Gurza", also designed and manufactured at the plant, is 2.5 tons. Equipped with the latest innovations, this vehicle is designed on the basis of Toyota HILOYX 12 and is assembled only in Azerbaijan.
The head of state got behind the wheel of the "Gurza" vehicle and drove it.
It was indicated that contracts for the production of 437 defense products were signed in 2012.
At the end of the year, the volume of defense products produced and delivered to the customer will increase in comparison with 2007 by more than 25 times. The range of defense products developed by enterprises of the Ministry has been brought to 700.
President Ilham Aliyev expressed his satisfaction with the work done at the plant and gave relevant instructions and recommendations.
