In the second half of June 2012, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to Georgia. The results of this visit were reported by the US Department of State in a statement to that effect.
During the visit, a wide range of issues was discussed, including options for the provision of military assistance to Georgia by America. Speaking of military assistance, it should be noted that much attention was paid to the issues of cooperation between the United States and Georgia in the course of the creation by the Georgians of their own means for monitoring the sea and air spaces, as well as the development of air defense systems. In addition, the American side intends to provide assistance in conducting training of personnel and in terms of modernizing general-purpose helicopters.
Experts say that cooperation in the military sector between the two states is developing quite successfully. Shortly before Hillary Clinton visited Georgia, the White House administration presented the Georgians with two coast guard boats worth two million dollars. The total amount of funds allocated to improve the infrastructure of the coast guard is about ten million dollars. Several months ago, or to be precise, in April 2012, an official statement was made that America intends to supply 28 armored vehicles equipped with enhanced mine protection to Georgia. A year earlier, in June last year, the American military department handed over 40 Hummer vehicles to the Georgian side free of charge (!), The total cost of which was $ 5 million.
In addition to the United States, states such as France, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria took part in the rearmament of Georgia in the post-war period. Among the supplied weapons and military equipment were not only small arms and ammunition for them, but also heavy armored vehicles, as well as modern air and anti-tank defense systems.
Thus, after the measures taken to restore the combat potential, the number of ground forces of the Georgian army today is about 20 thousand people, the air force and air defense forces - about 3 thousand people. In addition, there is a unit of the National Guard, which has about 600 servicemen, as well as special reaction forces that do not belong to any of the military branches and are under the direct command of the commander of the joint headquarters of the Georgian armed forces.
If we talk about weapons, information about them is considered a state secret of the Georgian state. However, from time to time, there is some evidence of what the Georgian army currently has.
The Russian Ministry of Defense provided information that Ukraine planned to supply Georgia 25 armored vehicles BTR-80, 3 missile systems "Smerch", 20 BMP-2, 12 self-propelled howitzers "Akatsia" 152 mm caliber, 50 anti-aircraft missile systems "Igla-1 ", As well as 400 missiles for them. 300 units of SDV sniper rifles, 10 helicopters, 10 thousand Kalashnikov assault rifles AK-47, RPG-7V in the amount of 1 thousand units, 25 thousand anti-tank mines, 70 thousand anti-personnel mines, engines for T-55 tanks (100 units). In addition, it was planned to supply 60 million rounds of 5, 45 and 30 million rounds of 7, 62 mm.
The deliveries that were carried out by Ukraine in 2009 are as follows: 10 T-72, 3 armored vehicles BTR-80. The contract for the supply of 20 Igla anti-aircraft missile systems, 25 BTR-70 units, 40 Strela anti-aircraft missile systems was also completed. In addition, the Kombat guided missiles were delivered, but the exact number is unknown. In the future, it is planned to deliver 400 more missiles of this type, as well as 4 "Kolchuga-M". According to the former general director of Ukrspetsexport, Sergei Bondarchuk, Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters, as well as Buk and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems were also delivered.
In the same 2009, Bulgaria supplied the Georgian armed forces with 12 122 mm D-20 field artillery guns worth $ 2 million, as well as 12 122 mm RM-70 MLRS, the total cost of which was $ 6 million.
Israel, in turn, upgraded 165 T-72 tanks to T-72-SIM-1 with a total cost of $ 100 million. In addition, the Georgian Air Force also ordered 40 Hermes 450 drones, which cost about $ 400 million.
Turkey provided the Georgian army with 70 Ejder armored personnel carriers worth $ 40 million, as well as 100 Cobra armored vehicles. In addition, a patrol boat was delivered, but its type and value are unknown.
As for American supplies, the United States supplied Georgia with Patriot, Igla-3 and Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems, Helfire-2 and Javelin anti-aircraft missile systems and a huge amount of cartridges for small arms. However, there is no reliable information about whether these deliveries were fully implemented or partially. The only thing that is known for certain about American aid is that the United States has concentrated its main financial resources not at all on armaments, but on training personnel and rebuilding the military infrastructure of the Georgian armed forces.
Back in early 2009, America and Georgia signed a document "Charter of Mutual Cooperation", in accordance with which the American side pledged to modernize the Georgian army and contribute to improving the country's defense capability. At the same time, the training of personnel was considered more important than the supply of new weapons. And already in August of the same year, American instructors began a six-month program to train Georgian servicemen, who were sent to Afghanistan as part of a rotation in 2010. It should be noted that the rotation of Georgian military formations on the territory of Afghanistan is a very convenient reason for the Americans to secretly transfer weapons to Georgia. If we take into account that the transportation of both manpower and equipment of Georgians is carried out with the help of American military transport aircraft and is not controlled by anyone, then it is possible that in parallel, weapons can be supplied that are in operation by the Americans in Afghanistan. Another confirmation of such military assistance is the fact that Georgia's military budget is increasingly closed from the public.
Military experts and analysts generally positively assess the military potential of Georgia, saying that the country has fully recovered from the hostilities.
Thus, according to K. Sivkov, deputy president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, the national armed forces of Georgia, judging by the amount of weapons and military equipment received as part of military assistance, have already fully restored their military power. He also noted that the likelihood of a repeat of the events of 2008 is extremely small, since at present there is practically no chance for Georgia in the conditions of the large number of armies of Russia, Abkhazia and Ossetia. However, at the same time, there is no doubt that provocations will be observed on the part of the Georgian special services, perhaps even large ones, if Georgia is admitted to NATO.
In addition, there is a real threat that if a military conflict breaks out in Iran, it will also affect Georgia. Russia may well be able to declare that terrorist activity has its origins there. And such statements will certainly lead to an aggravation of relations.
According to the head of the Center for Military Forecasting Anatoly Tsyganiuk, Georgia was able to restore its military potential in almost a year. However, Georgia should not be particularly happy, since further events may not develop as well as it seems at first glance. America may well deploy its armed forces on Georgian territory as compensation for providing military assistance. American troops will be well deployed to conduct operations against Iran, but no matter how events unfold, there is no guarantee that they will then leave Georgian lands.
Alexander Konovalov, president of the Institute for Strategic Assessments and Analysis, advocates a slightly different opinion. He is confident that the military potential of Georgia has not only been restored, but also increased. At the same time, it was not the States that provided the Georgians with great military assistance, but Israel, which trained the armed forces. And even though Israel officially ceased cooperation with the Georgian army, Israeli instructors continued to train personnel of the Georgian armed forces. These were mainly representatives of private military firms, highly professional specialists with extensive combat experience. He also expressed confidence that currently Georgia does not have enough strength to fight against Russia, so there is no threat from this side.
Meanwhile, the new Georgian Defense Minister David Sikharulidze, who was recently appointed to the post, announced that he intends to continue reforming the army according to NATO standards. Such a reform has been going on for the past several years, since the country's leadership sees the main strategic goal in joining the North Atlantic Alliance. But the question is: is it worth it?..
