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Georgian Air Force

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Not to be confused with Georgia Air National Guard.
Aviation and Air Defense Command
  • თავდაცვის ძალების ავიაციისა და საჰაერო თავდაცვის სარდლობა
  • tavdatsvis dzalebis aviatsiisa da sahaero tavdatsvis sardloba
Georgian Air Force emblem
Founded1992; 32 years ago (1992) (as Georgian Air Force)
Country Georgia
TypeAir force
RoleAerial warfare
Size
  • 2,971 personnel
  • 48 aircraft
Part ofGeorgian Defence Forces
HeadquartersAlekseevka, Tbilisi
Anniversaries19 September
Engagements
WebsiteMOD Website in georgian
Commanders
Commander-in-ChiefPresident Salome Zourabichvili
Prime MinisterIrakli Kobakhidze
Minister of Defense Irakli Chikovani
Chief of Defense ForcesMaj. Gen. Giorgi Matiashvili[1]
CommanderColonel Sergo Ninua [2]
Insignia
Roundel
Flag

The Aviation and Air Defence Command of the Defence Forces (Georgian: თავდაცვის ძალების ავიაციისა და საჰაერო თავდაცვის სარდლობა, romanized: tavdatsvis dzalebis aviatsiisa da sahaero tavdatsvis sardloba),[2] (formerly Georgian Air Force (Georgian: საქართველოს საჰაერო ძალები, sak’art’velos sahaero dzalebi)) is the air force of the Defense Forces of Georgia. It was established as part of the Georgian Armed Forces in 1992 and merged into Army Air Section in 2010. As part of reforms in the Georgian military, the Air Force was reestablished as a separate command of the Defense Forces in 2016.[3]

History

Founding and abolition

The Georgian Air Force and Air Defense Division was established on January 1, 1992. On August 18, 1998, the two divisions were unified in a joint command structure and renamed the Georgian Air Force.[4]

The first combat flight was conducted by Izani Tsertsvadze and Valeri Nakopia on September 19, 1992, during the separatist war in Abkhazia. This date was later designated as the Georgian Air Force Day.[4]

In 2010, the Georgian Air Force was abolished as a separate branch and incorporated into the Georgian Land Forces as Air and Air Defense sections.[5]

Reestablishment and modernization

The Georgian Air Force was formally re-established in 2016 but all fixed wing aircraft were left abandoned till 2020. Under the leadership of Georgian Minister of Defense Irakli Garibashvili the Air Force was re-prioritized and aircraft owned by the Georgian Air Force are being modernized and re-serviced after they were left abandoned for 4 years. The Minister of Defense also announced plans to acquire strike drones to increase Georgia's combat readiness.[6]

Ranks

Main article: Georgian military ranks

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Rank group General / flag officers Senior officers Junior officers
 Georgian Air Force[7]
გენერალი
Generali 		გენერალ ლეიტენანტი
General leit’enant’i 		გენერალ მაიორი
General maiori 		ბრიგადის გენერალი
Brigadis generali 		პოლკოვნიკი
P’olk’ovnik’i 		ლეიტენანტ პოლკოვნიკი
Leit’enant’ p’olk’ovnik’i 		მაიორი
Maiori 		კაპიტანი
K’ap’it’ani 		უფროსი ლეიტენანტი
Uprosi leit’enant’i 		ლეიტენანტი
Leit’enant’i

Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Rank group Senior NCOs Junior NCOs Enlisted
 Georgian Air Force[7]
მთავარი სერჟანტი
Mtavari serzhant’i 		მასტერ-სერჟანტი
Mast’er-serzhant’i 		უფროსი სერჟანტი
Uprosi serzhant’i 		სერჟანტი
Serzhant’i 		უმცროსი სერჟანტი
Umtsrosi serzhant’i 		კაპრალ-სპეციალისტი
K’ap’ral-sp’etsialist’i 		კაპრალი
K’ap’rali 		I კლასის რიგითი
I k’lasis rigiti 		რიგითი
Rigiti

Mission and objectives

The objectives of the Georgian Air Force are defined as follows:

  • Warfare and mobilization readiness of the Air Forces sub-units
  • Protection of sovereignty and control of the air space of Georgia
  • The fight against air terrorism
  • Participate in the fight against terrorism on land and at sea
  • Air defence of state entities and troops
  • Destruction of land and naval targets at the enemy's front line and tactical inmost. Providing air support for friendly land and naval forces
  • Participation in collective and multinational exercises.

Functions of the Georgian Air Forces:

  • Troop and cargo transportation
  • Search and rescue of downed aircraft and pilots
  • MEDEVAC
  • Informing the leadership of the Air Force and the Army about enemy air assaults
  • Destruction of enemy manpower, land and naval targets
  • Air forces landing
  • Aerial reconnaissance

The two major airfields are located near Tbilisi at Vaziani and Marneuli.

Current inventory

Aircraft

A Georgian Mi-24 in flight
A Georgian Su-25 in flight
Aircraft Origin Type Variant In service Notes
Attack
Sukhoi Su-25 Soviet Union CAS Su-25KM
Su-25UB 		2[8]
2[8] 		2 in storage.[8] 1 lost in 2024.[9]
Transport
Antonov An-2 Soviet Union transport 6[8]
Antonov An-28 Soviet Union transport 2[10]
Yakovlev Yak-40 Soviet Union transport 2[8]
Helicopters
Mil Mi-8 Soviet Union utility Mi-8/171 15[10]
Mil Mi-14 Soviet Union ASW / SAR 2[10]
Mil Mi-24 Soviet Union attack 9[10]
Bell UH-1 United States utility UH-1H 12[10]
Trainer aircraft
Aero L-39 Czechoslovakia trainer / light attack 8[10]
Unmanned aerial vehicle
Elbit Hermes 450 Israel reconnaissance 1+[8]

Air defence

Name Origin Type Variant In service Notes
Surface-to-air missiles
9K37 Buk Soviet Union Medium range Buk-M1 1−2 batteries[8] Former Ukrainian vehicles.[11]
9K33 Osa Soviet Union Short range Osa-AKM 6−10 batteries[8] Former Ukrainian vehicles, modernized before delivery.[11]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aviation and Air Defence Command of the Defence Forces.
  1. ^ "Giorgi Matiashvili - MOD.GOV.GE". mod.gov.ge.
  2. ^ a b "თავდაცვის ძალების ავიაციისა და საჰაერო თავდაცვის სარდლობა" [Aviation and air defense command of the defense forces] (in Georgian). Ministry of Defense of Georgia. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  3. ^ ,On Defense of Georgia, (Law 1030). 15 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b Defence Today 27: 1. September 2009 Archived 2012-05-05 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed February 10, 2012.
  5. ^ Structure of Land Forces Archived 2013-11-05 at the Wayback Machine. Ministry of Defense of Georgia. Accessed on February 10, 2012.
  6. ^ "ავიაციის პარკის განახლების სამუშაოები აქტიურად მიმდინარეობს - YouTube". www.youtube.com. 8 September 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  7. ^ a b "სამხედრო წოდებები და ინსიგნიები" [Military Ranks and Insignia]. mod.gov.ge (in Georgian). Ministry of Defense of Georgia. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h IISS 2024, p. 185.
  9. ^ "Accident Sukhoi Su-25 , Tuesday 2 July 2024". asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Hoyle, Craig (2023). "World Air Forces 2024". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Arms transfer database". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 25 May 2024.

Bibliography

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