 Although Armenia began taking over Soviet weapons shortly following the collapse of the USSR in 1991, it would not be until October 1992 that its nascent air force was able to conduct offensive combat operations.The first Armenian combat loss was suffered on 12 November 1992 when an Mi-24 gunship operating in support of the Armenians' Martuni Offensive was shot down near the village of Kazakh.On 23 November two Mi-8 transports were hit by groundfire, downing one and seriously damaging another; another Mi-8 was lost on 30 December.