Georgia announced the restart of production of the Su-25
The candidate for the post of Georgian Defence Minister, Juansher Burchuladze, has stated that Georgia is about to restart the production of military aircraft. In his parliament speech connected with the forthcoming confirmation to the post of defence minister, Burchuladze said that the JSC Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing Plant (Tbilaviamisheni - TAM) which was pretty much on the verge of closing since the collapse of the USSR, has been partially overhauled, with many former workers having been called in to return. According to his words, the first Su-25 attack aircraft from the “new production” shall take to the air in mid-March this year and a new example would follow roughly every month.
This announcement is not entirely surprising as the former Georgian Defence Minister Irakli Garibashvili already mentioned in 2019 that it was technically possible for the TAM plant to resume production of the Su-25 for the needs of Georgian Air Force, as well as possible exports. This claim was in direct contradiction to previously announced rejection of the fleet of Georgian Su-25 attack aircraft and Mi-24 helicopters and their planned replacement with unmanned aerial vehicles. Finally, judging by the serial numbers of some of the Su-25s delivered to Azerbaijan in recent years (most notably airframes 35 and 37 Blue), some exporting activities at TAM were underway for certain time.
According to the informed sources, the TAM plant might not be able to provide full production of the Sukhoi Su-25, let alone create the modernized version Ge-31 Bora completely lacking Russian parts, as Scramble Magazine reported on 15 February 2018. However, the plant could start to restore the airframes having been partially produced in the days of the USSR.
The TAM factory still has some five dozens of partially completed airframe constructions at their disposal which means they would have at least five years of restoration and overhaul work ahead. Of course, the complete restoration requires connection to dozens of suppliers for instrumentation, equipment and avionics which are spread across a wide ex-CIS territory from Baranovichi, through Kiev and Yerevan up to Kazan and St.Petersburg.
Photos: TAM