2022 February 10

Daily news wrap-up

News - Feb/10/2022: Interview w/army expert Artsrun; 6th gen warfare @ One Repatriation Center to rule them all @ Asset forfeiture case against officials; "Confiscated" hotel is sold @ Media conglomerate breaks up @ Democracy Index 2021 @ Espionage @ Azerb. angry at Iran over "Shushi" @ Tourism push
by ar_david_hh

---

This is your 13-minute Thursday digest in 3242 words.

interview with military expert Artsrun Hovhannisyan | forthcoming 6th gen warfare & what to expect

Read his interview about the ongoing 5th gen warfare [in January 25 report](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/scob30/jan252022_major_education_reforms_to_address_the/). This interview is about what the war will look like in the distant future.

Artsrun: the 6th gen warfare is arriving along with the 4th gen industrial revolution.

[Industrial revolution refresher: 1) Use water and steam for production. 2) Use electricity. 3) Electronics and infotech for automation. 4) Digital revolution that is blurring the lines between physical and virtual, began in the mid-20th century.]

In my view, all generations of warfares are directly tied to people's social, educational, and economic development levels.

I can't predict everything accurately but IMO, the 6th gen will have a few very distinct characteristics. What we call "proxy war", when you use someone else's hands in someone else's land, will become more common.

Cyberattacks and psychological warfare are often referred to as cognitive warfare. Private firms can be hired to attack, as we've seen in Syria and Iraq.

The border between war and peace will be blurred. People might not even realize they are in war amid cognitive attacks that don't result in large-scale physical damage.

The traditional army management system won't work. Ground units might disappear as we know it. We won't have a separate tank and artillery battalions. They will be mixed. There will be units that contain an equal amount of tank, infantry, and engineering forces. This is why the commanders must be a lot more educated to manage them all.

The time given to you to prepare and conduct an operation continues to shrink with each generation of warfare. If during WW2 the division head was given 15 days, in the 1980s it was 1-2 days, in 5th gen warfare it was hours. In the 6th gen, the commander will be making decisions that predict the future, instead of responding, because things will move too fast and you can't prepare a response to an event that's already developing. You must think ahead and prepare for an event that is yet to happen. It's more complex.

Reporter: Does our army have that potential today?

Artsrun: We need an extremely big reform program. We do have officers in the army and outside who are young and capable to introduce a new level of education and mindset. It's necessary to ignore old stereotypes and courageously revolutionize the army.

After WW1, the German army confidently discharged its aging yet still brilliant officers. Go home, they were told.

Reporter: And what if the young generation ruins their army? [Isn't it already?]

Artsrun: There is always a risk but if you know what you want and work hard, you'll achieve it. The same happened with the U.S. after the Vietnam War; a new commission conducted reforms. We need this courage. We've already made the mistake of not doing it once.

Reporter: Will there be face-to-face infantry clashes in 6th gen?

Artsrun: Yes, but it will be infused with dominant electronics. Air superiority will remain the decisive force. The air units will change and become smaller. They'll fit in your backpack. AI with visual recognition will be used in tank missiles and grenade launchers. It's scary but eventually, everyone will have this tech just as the artillery became more widely used over time.

In the future, traditional trenching and engineering will disappear. Soldiers with exoskeletons, jumping abilities, and companion robots will move the warfare from trenches to around clusters such as bridges, weapon depots, radiolocation stations, etc. The capture of those clusters, and not trenches, will be their mission.

The majority of infantry will be Spetsnaz (special forces) with emphasis on heavy training, night training, specialization in certain tasks. This will be the new norm. The old logic of taking a soldier to a shooting range to fire at a still object will disappear.

Reporter: So it's not just commanders who need better training.

Artsrun: Absolutely. Throughout our history, analysts have often made the incorrect assumption that human soldiers will be irrelevant. Humans are always important. You'll need 1,000 better-trained soldiers instead of 10,000 regular ones.

Reporter: Do you believe it's possible to reduce the conscription term from 2 years?

Artsrun: I don't think it's realistic for now. Although we could change the nature of their service and deploy them to less risky areas. It's another topic whether you should trust the conscripts or the contractors. This is a complex topic.

Reporter: Back to 6th gen warfare.

Artsrun: In the 6th gen, nano and biotech will play an important role in uniforms. There will be bulletproof exoskeletons that give new physical abilities. A true breakthrough will arrive when scientists create a new form of energy source that provides more charge in a smaller footprint. This will shrink most weapons.

Electromagnetic artillery is already installed on warships and it's smaller. Their generators used to be the size of this room, today it's 500kg blocs, and tomorrow it will be 100kg, and you can place them on autonomous artillery systems.

That means the bomb fired by the standard 155mm autonomous artillery system could reach 100km. The American ["Paladin"](https://www.army-technology.com/projects/paladin/) or Russian ["Msta"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2S19_Msta) could become smaller, carry more bombs, and increase the firing range. This will revolutionize artillery's role.

We need to understand where the world is headed. When the U.S. used drones in 1991 and 2003, sadly we ignored its importance. That same technology, with worse quality, was used to defeat us in 2020. We lost 20 years.

Reporter: Turkey is NATO so they will have the latest tech you've described.

Artsrun: Absolutely. Turkey is highly involved in this process. They've been one of the most actively developing NATO states in the past 15 years. After the U.S., Turkey is the second with the resources invested in developing the army and military industry.

To sum up: we must be faster, smarter, compact and mobile. For that, we need free-thinking, developing, and often self-taught entrepreneurs. //

https://youtu.be/RSTRjGZ6xfg?t=216 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/

TUMO Box high-tech education center opens in Artsakh's Martakert

The Box is the portable version of TUMO and can be installed in more locations. Former TUMO students attended the opening ceremony to share their experiences with the newbies.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075260.html

by the power vested in me by Ethereum

Indian couple got married on blockchain. The "6th gen wedding" was held in November, officiated by a digital priest.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/by-the-power-vested-in-me-by-ethereum-pune-couple-s-blockchain-wedding-with-digital-priest-nft-vows/ar-AATunnh

VIDEO: European scientists have taken a significant step closer to mastering fusion energy

Geeks at EUROfusion produced 59 megajoules (11 megawatts) over a five-second period, double the previous record in 1997.

>If we can maintain fusion for five seconds, we can do it for five minutes and then five hours as we scale up our operations in future machines

>huge step closer to conquering one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of them all

One day, fusion will allow them to harness a clean and almost limitless amount of energy, they hope.

See the fusion process in the video: https://youtu.be/eX9MnnunrRw?t=4

https://apnews.com/article/technology-science-business-europe-oxford-2477c8cb6106ca289ee5311b271e4087 https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60312633

NSS neutralizes a "network of spies", 19 arrested

Military Counterintelligence Division of NSS: The network was recruited by foreign intel agencies for espionage. The investigation was carried out as part of another state treason investigation.

Several military servicemen were involved. Fake social media accounts posing as Armenian women were opened to recruit the targets by promising them intimate relationships.

The targets were over 20 servicemen of various ranks. They were offered money in exchange for classified information on deployment locations of military bases, units, command staff, defense lines, engineering structures, equipment, etc.

All servicemen had the relevant security clearance to access that information. The suspects agreed to cooperate and received payments for gathering the info.

We have learned their identities and the content of the classified information that they transferred.

19 are under arrest. Some of them have confessed. //

https://youtu.be/Bqe5PZtRg48 https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075186.html https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=449690693560385

Tags: #treason #espionage

anti-corruption: criminal nepotism & bribery charges against Military Police official

Investigative Committee reports: the deputy head of the Gyumri branch decided to help his friend get a job in the department in exchange for a bribe. The friend soon became the head of another department in exchange for $1,500.

The official then helped another worker to get a promotion in exchange for $2,000.

All three have been charged with crimes. The case has reached the court. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075185.html

աչքներտ լուս: government found a buyer for the "confiscated" Golden Palace hotel in Tsakhkadzor

During the post-2018 anti-corruption raids, the authorities investigated Tsakhkadzor's Golden Palace Hotel. Former officials associated with the hotel were accused of using offshore schemes to funnel funds.

Eventually, [Kocharyan's IRS chief Armen Avetisyan](https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/armenias-golden-palace-offshore-millions-evaded-investigators) agreed to "donate the hotel to the state". It was auctioned for $15 million but they had to lower it to $13 million after five unsuccessful auctions.

It was finally sold today in an auction to a company called Project Inter-Invest for $10 million, plus $9 million investments in the next 5 years. The buyer is a food industry player.

https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/armenias-golden-palace-offshore-millions-evaded-investigators https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075254.html https://www.aysor.am/en/news/2018/11/28/armen-avetisyan/1497114

the opposition (ex-regime) is challenging the asset forfeiture law in Constitutional Court

The law went into effect recently and allows prosecutors, as part of a criminal investigation or in the event of corruption evidence, to require officials to prove the legal origins of their large property.

Kocharyan's and Serj's HD/PU alliances are challenging it in CC. There is a need to bring it in line with the constitution, said HD MP Seyran Ohanyan.

Ohanyan is personally under investigation. His assets were frozen. His wife's and a foreigner associate's property is also under investigation. Ohanyan denies wrongdoing.

HD and PU alliances have 6 MPs whose properties are being investigated. An NGO chief believes the opposition is using its parliamentary powers to challenge the forfeiture law to "defend what was stolen in the past".

HD MP Ishkhan Saghatelyan said he doesn't mind if perpetrators, if there are any, are forced to return stolen properties.

Yerevan's ex-mayor HHK Taron Margaryan has joined the efforts to strike down the law. He is also a suspect. "If [the reports about me] were true, the public would have been informed by now." He said he isn't concerned about the state confiscating his "luxury mansion".

Constitutional Court judge and Kocharyan/Serj ally Hrayr Tovmasyan is also reportedly under an asset investigation.

The law's author deputy Justice Minister Andreasyan is confident it will be upheld in CC.

Other suspects are Serj's nephews, Serj's bodyguard and his family, Serj's police chief Vladimir Gasparyan, General Manvel Grigoryan's family, ex-Nature Minister Aram Harutyunyan, NSS Colonel Serob Harutyunyan.

https://youtu.be/QmDfRjKEtbE https://factor.am/474328.html

Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index 2021

Armenia remains a "hybrid" state but with an improved rating. 89th out of 165.

Armenia is two positions ahead of Georgia after improving the rating from 5.35 to 5.49. Here is the comparison:

Overall 5.49 (Georgia 5.12)

Electoral process 7.50 (7.42)

Functioning of government 5.71 (3.57)

Political participation 6.11 (5.56)

Political culture 3.13 (3.75)

Civil liberties 5.00 (5.29)

https://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/eiu-democracy-index-2021.pdf www.civilnet.am/news/649560/հայաստանը-դարձյալ-հիբրիդային-ռեժիմ-է-բայց-բարելավված-դիրքերով․-ժողովրդավարության-համաթիվ-2021/

smoking in cafés and other food facilities will be prohibited starting next month

The ban on displaying cigarettes in shopping stores went into effect on January 1. The ban on public smoking starts on March 15.

Pashinyan: It applies to cigarettes and "cigarette substitutes".

Economy Minister Kerobyan: Many countries have gone through this process. The results are positive. The experience shows that the business revenues decrease for 1-2 months but recovers quickly.

Nonsmokers and even many smokers themselves enjoy a smoke-free environment. I think many businesses will build separate corners for smokers. If you want to smoke and drink coffee, you could do it outside.

I quit 4 years ago. I used to smoke 3 packs a day, but only 1 during my trips to countries that banned public smoking. It works. There is discomfort during the day but in the evening you feel better because you didn't smoke a lot. //

https://youtu.be/cRhZUDjW6eI https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075230.html

Azeri regime is angry because Iran's capital Tehran named one of its streets "Shushi" and not "Shusha"

Azerbaijan's ambassador to Iran sent a note of protest.

Tehran recently decided to rename several streets after Caucasus cities. That includes Shushi and Badkube (aka Baku, means "windy city").

https://factor.am/474297.html

Georgian TV outlet apologizes after an oopsie

You may recall from [February 7 report](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/sn256t/feb72022_what_do_yogurt_gates_statue_have_in/) the "Yogurt War" between Armenia and Georgia, over the term "matsun".

While covering the story, the Imedi TV displayed yogurt bottles that read Karabakh and dolma are Azerbaijani.

The outlet apologized and said the images were altered and weren't the originals intended for display. They will remove the episode from all social media platforms.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075221.html https://en.armradio.am/2022/02/10/georgian-imedi-tv-apologizes-for-anti-armenian-captions-of-photos/

opposition-owned media conglomerate Karyak Media is breaking up

Karyak Media is a union of former Serj party MPs and their allies. It includes the famous outlets ArmNews, ArmNews FM, and Tert.am.

[Last week](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/sizmg9/daily_digest_222022_education_reforms_career/) the media reported that Karyak Media allegedly sold ArmNews to prominent businessman-benefactor Ruben Vardanyan. The news was later retracted. It was then reported that an acquisition offer was rejected. Ruben Vardanyan believes Armenia needs a high-quality and more internationally-oriented outlet.

Today Karyak Media's co-founder released a statement about ceasing their operations, citing the reason as "nobody wants the facts anymore" and that political struggles are self-oriented.

Co-founder HHK Samvel Farmanyan: Dear ArmNews viewers and listeners, and Term.am readers, we faced a difficult decision on how to continue our activities. We've denied multiple political offers for ideological reasons. We've also discussed selling the business but couldn't reach a deal that would let us maintain our policies. That's why we made the painful but natural decision to cease operation. //

The individual outlets won't stop operating. In a recent poll, 5% of Armenians said ArmNews is the most trustworthy news source.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075265.html https://armeniasputnik.am/20220210/armnews-tertam-qarjak-median-dadarecnum-e-gvortsuneutjuny-38554471.html https://news.am/arm/news/686327.html https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/sjujj4/feb32022_deal_reached_for_60m_ski_resort_track/

from now on, I will not pay the electricity bills...

... announced Turkish opposition party leader Kemal Քըլըչդարօղլու. It's a sign of protest to Erdogan's monetary policies which accelerated the lira's devaluation, and the overall high inflation in the country, which was 50% in January.

Քըլըչդարօղլու: They raised the minimum wage by 50% but then raised the road, fuel, electricity and gas prices. I won't pay the electricity bills starting today until Erdogan reverses the hikes. //

In January, the electricity price rose by 125% for industrial and 50% for household consumers.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075261.html https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-02-10/turkish-opposition-head-refuses-to-pay-power-bill-in-price-rise-protest

COVID stats

7.6k tested. 2.8k infected. 2.5k healed. 6 deaths.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075190.html

Egyptian tourists can visit Armenia more easily

Armenian ambassador met Egypt's tourism chief to discuss cooperation after reaching some agreements on November 28.

The simplified visa regime for a group of tourists arriving from Egypt is already in force, the ambassador noted. Earlier this month, the government said the visa regime will be simplified "in 2-3 months". They are trying to bring millions of Christian Egyptians to visit Armenia's Christian sites.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075180.html

Gyumri will relocate funeral houses from downtown to make it more appealing to tourists

Կարո՞ղ է զբոսաշրջիկին մի հատ էլ առաջարկենք՝ սգո սրահ այցելի:

This business type and facility characteristics do not meet the standards, said the city and asked them to leave. Funeral houses must be 100 meters from public areas unless they have the residents' approval.

The city also reminded that funeral houses must have refrigerators and that not every budka can do this business.

https://factor.am/473959.html

a dumbass with a knife demanded a ticket from airport agent

The police arrested a man accused of arguing with a Zvartnots agent and threatening the latter with a knife unless he was given a ticket.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/230929

Pashinyan: Armenia and EU will form a common aviation area

The government approved the ratification of the AM-EU Common Aviation Area Agreement signed on November 15 in Brussels.

It will replace other bilateral aviation agreements and create a Common Aviation Area between Armenia and the EU.

Armenia will align its aviation laws with EU rules in areas such as safety, air traffic control, economic regulation, and environment. It could lead to better prices for passengers.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075220.html

government approves the ratification of a refugee readmission agreement with Poland

If Armenia wants a simpler visa regime with the EU, it has to meet some standards. One of them is accepting back its refugees and providing appropriate assistance to the repatriates. Hence the recent efforts to launch new refugee programs, shelters, and legal reforms. Armenia has a refugee readmission agreement with 10 EU states so far. Poland is the latest one.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075220.html

Armenia will have a new Repatriation Integration Center for diasporans moving in

Today the government approved the formation of the new Center so diasporans can receive "high-quality and fast services with the one-window principle".

>the Center will be the first of its kind in Armenia, will act as a single resource center for integration of the repatriates, and will significantly improve the affordability and efficiency of the whole process

The multilingual Center will help with documents, bringing personal property, transferring a business, military service, legal & taxation, bank transfers & finances, and emergency assistance if needed.

The Center will cooperate with other state and public agencies and the Diaspora Office to meet the "deadlines".

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075220.html https://mediamax.am/en/news/society/46316/

tax waivers were granted to businesses to encourage investments

Dustr Marianna wants to import $36 million worth of dairy materials to produce European cheese and other dairy goods in Yerevan. They will receive $5.5 million in tax waivers. 25 new jobs, 80% to be exported to Russia.

Tax waiver was granted to Սթոուն Լենդ Ltd. to import concrete production and mixing machinery. $1.2 million investments, 23 new jobs.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075220.html

PHOTOs for art lovers

Union of Artists of Armenia held an expo to present 300 art pieces in various genres.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075252.html

Armenia's 175 youth sports schools will operate under universal federal standards

Only a fifth of them are state nonprofits, with the rest being community nonprofits. The universal standards currently only apply to state nonprofits. The government has decided to expand the standards on everyone.

Standards: The duration of one lesson, the minimum age, the facility size, how many people can use the equipment simultaneously, sanitation.

Pashinyan: This is about the sport's institutional development. It doesn't matter who runs the facility. They should follow state standards.

Education Minister: We'll discuss the possibility of increasing our share of financing of the facility renovation programs. We must bring all of them to an appropriate standard by 2024.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075197.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075220.html

Olympics news

The classic 10km skiing competition was held among 98 athletes.

Norwegia's Johaug 28:06 (1st)

Katya Galstyan 34:37 (74th)

Angelina Muradyan 39:43 (93rd)

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075202.html

Armenian soccer team maintains 92th position in FIFA Ranking

Belgia 1

Brazilia 2

Francia 3

Denmark is somehow 9

Georgia 86

Armenia 92

Azerbaijan 121

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075222.html

top-10 Armenian soccer players by transfer value

5) Tigran Barsegyan (Slovan) €2.5m

4) Edward Apertsyan (Krasnodar) €3m

3) Sargis Adamyan (Brugge KV) €3m

2) Lucas Zelarayán (Columbus Crew) €8m

1) Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Roma) €10m

https://factor.am/473992.html

today in history

1837: Russian poet Alexander Pushkin dies after being shot in a duel.

1935: poet Zori Balayan is born.

1997: Deep Blue chess computer defeats Garry Kasparov. The guy loses his cool.

2009: American and Russian communication satellites collide in the first-ever hypervelocity crash. Until that point, it was only satellite vs junk.

2011: International Kennel Union recognizes Armenian wolfhound "Gampr" as Armenia's national dog breed

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1075170.html

more

The news in русский (by Impossible-Ad-).

News archive: http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Daily_Anti-Corruption_Reports Donations: soldiers' families, humanitarian aid, US tax-deductible donation.

The accused are innocent unless proven guilty in the court of law, even if they "appear" guilty.

---

Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/spgyed/news_feb102022_interview_warmy_expert_artsrun_6th/