The Georgian Armed Forces plans to remove from service Su-25 «Frogfoot» combat aircraft. That was reported by Head of the Georgian General Staff of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Vladimir Chachibaya.
According to him, the decision is largely due to the complexity of spare parts. “The main components market for these planes – Russia, that is, access to them is not” – said Chachibaya.
During the August 2008 war with Russia, Georgian aircraft were initially active, but were soon grounded by Russian air superiority. The Russians claimed at least 3 Su-25 combat aircraft destroyed. The Georgian Ministry of Defense reported 5 air force personnel were killed in action. Now Russia imposed an embargo on the supply of military equipment to Georgia.
The Georgian Armed Forces looks to ordered new remotely piloted aircraft to replace the Su-25 «Frogfoot» combat aircraft. Georgia, home to Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing which produced scores of single-seat Su-25s during the Soviet era, was left with virtually no aircraft following the break-up of the Soviet Union. Only a small number of single-seat Su-25s were actually brought into the inventory of the newly formed Georgian Air Force (now army air force), these aircraft having been left in the factory at the time of Georgian independence. Georgia had nine Su-25s of different variants, with eight of them being Su-25KM “Scorpion“s (an upgraded variants of the Su-25 in collaboration with Israel).