Foreign Intelligence Service (Armenia)

The Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) of Armenia (Armenian: Հայաստանի արտաքին հետախուզական ծառայություն) is an independent agency of the government of Armenia responsible for gathering, analyzing, and disseminating foreign intelligence. The FIS operates separately from the National Security Service (NSS) and directly reports to the Prime Minister.

Its primary objectives are to protect Armenia's national security interests by providing strategic intelligence on external threats, opportunities, and developments relevant to the country's foreign policy, economic stability, and overall well-being. The specific activities of the FIS are classified but are understood to include intelligence gathering through human sources (HUMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT), and open-source intelligence (OSINT). The Service analyzes collected information to produce assessments and reports for policymakers and relevant government agencies.

The creation of a separate FIS, distinct from the NSS, represents a restructuring of Armenia's intelligence apparatus aimed at improving specialization and efficiency in foreign intelligence operations. The separation allows the NSS to focus primarily on domestic security threats, while the FIS concentrates exclusively on foreign intelligence.