“HAIKAKAN BANAK” DEFENSE-ACADEMIC JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL DEFENSE RESEARCH UNIVERSITY, MOD, RA
The “Haikakan Banak” (Armenian Army) defense-academic journal of the National Defense Research University of the RA Ministry of Defense was established on October 11, 1994, by the order of the then Defense Minister of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, on the recommendation of Lieutenant General Norat Ter-Grigoryants, the First Deputy Defense Minister. The task of creating the journal was assigned to Colonel Hayk S. Kotanjian (ret. Lieutenant General), Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor.
Armenia was undergoing through harsh time, when day after day efforts were being made to establish the newly independent republic, establish and strengthen the country’s authority in the foreign political arena, build an army, and enhance that victory after winning the war. In addition, the need for perspective plans was imperative.
Evidently, the implementation of such initiatives seemed not to be a priority among the problems the state faced at the time. However, the Republic of Armenia attached great importance to educating the army, and highly appreciated the development of modern military scientific thought.
Equipping the army with modern weapons, educating the personnel with a high patriotic spirit, integrating our national military traditions, advanced world experience, and military scientific thought became somewhat a benchmark. The activity of the defense-academic journal proved to be a tangible contribution to the case of disseminating the advanced military scientific thought and experience, to the military-patriotic education of the Armed Forces personnel, and to taking its part in the development of Armenian military terminology.
Since the very first day the journal dived into the maelstrom of quests it had to face. Experience came with time, since throughout her history Armenia has never had any defense-academic magazines and, in that sense, there were no relevant experience, established working traditions, and what is more, no current achievements. However, the Journal quickly gained its unique place among scientific periodicals of the Supreme Certifying Committee owing to the enthusiasm and creative working, as well as the yearn for the quality work, enjoying prestige in academic circles. The fact that the journal time and again receives high appraisal from the highest state and military leadership of the Republic of Armenia, the Armenian Apostolic Church, sophisticated and distinguished people who come from the country’s academic and educational realm, serves as a genuine proof of it.
The “Haikakan Banak” defense-academic journal pursues the following objectives:
a) to contribute to the spread of domestic and global advanced military-scientific thought, knowledge and experience in the RA Armed Forces;
b) to foster the moral and psychological, and military education of the RA Armed Forces personnel, as well as ingraining a noble sense of patriotism;
c) to train the academic personnel in the RA Armed Forces;
d) in cooperation with the scientific-research and educational components of the RA Ministry of Defense, to translate foreign-language military scientific training manuals, as well as to perform the academic-linguistic editing and publishing of the NDRU-drafted training manuals;
e) to enhance the liaison between the army and the public;
f) to expand the Armenian military terminology, and develop the conceptual and terminological apparatus.
Below is the list of people who have ever taken the post of the Editor-in-Chief of “Haikakan Banak” defense-academic journal:
1994—1998, Hayk S. Kotanjian, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor, Lieutenant General (ret.);
1998—2006, Arkady Y. Sargsyan, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Colonel,
2006—to this day, Davit S. Chilingaryan, Colonel (ret.).