Marking a new impetus to the Armenian-Polish military cooperation, the Armenian Defense Ministry and Polish defense company inaugurated Thursday a joint venture in Armenia for manufacturing protective equipment for the armed forces.

The company Lubawa Armenia was officially launched in Charentsavan, a small town 40 kilometers north of Yerevan, attended by Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanian, the former Polish counterpart Bogdan Klich and industry executives from Senior Defence of the two states.

The company will use the technology and expertise of the group Lubawa SA in Poland to produce a range of protective equipment such as helmets, flak jackets, inflatable tents, camouflage nets and lures. Ohanian noted that these elements will be provided to the armed forces not only Armenia, but also other nations, possibly including members of the Eurasian Economic Union led by Russia.

Lubawa Armenia was established in March 2013 and began operating shortly after the premises of a factory in the defense of Charentsavan mainly belonging to the Armenian Defense Ministry. According Razm.info, a press service of Yerevan-based defense, the ministry signed a contract last December to $ 1 million to provide the Armenian army camouflage netting. The Armenian government approved in July this contribution of $ 1 million to Polish society of Armenian descent, who took the form of immovable property situated next to the Charentsavan factory. Ohanian was clear at the time that Lubawa, which holds 51% stake in the company, will make $ 10 million capital investment.

In a speech at the opening quoted by his press service ceremony, Ohanian spoke of “a new page in the history of Armenian-Polish cooperation in the defense industry.” He discussed this cooperation at a meeting with Bogdan Klich Tuesday. He had been defense minister of Poland from 2007 to 2011 and is now a Polish senator.

The official launch of the facility Charentsavan, while significant, does not seem to be the most tangible consequence of military ties with NATO Armenia which Poland is a member. According to Russian news sources, another Polish company had last year begun to modernize 84 Armenian tanks for a contract of $ 100 million in 2013 signed with Yerevan The Armenian Defense Ministry did not deny this information.

Tanks T-72 Russian-made tanks of the Armenian army would have a stronger and more dynamic armor and equipped with more powerful engines, new guns, surveillance cameras and communication systems at the forefront of the technology. Some defense analysts believe that these improvements will make them similar to the more advanced T-90 tanks currently manufactured by Russia.

Russia, which is allied to Armenia, has continue to perform early next year delivery of 100 T-90 tanks to Azerbaijan as part of defense contracts signed in large-scale 2010 Armed tightly integrated Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are not supposed to have these tanks in their arsenal.