Over the weekend, I think we've all learned to take Georgian media reports with an extra grain of salt, and this report seems a bit hard to fathom: Apparently a Georgian newspaper is reporting that the country is planning to sell 12 of its Su-25 aircraft. Via GeorgiaTimes:
The media cites to the Ministry of Defense and say the merge was caused by dissatisfaction with training level of military pilots, failing to hit targets at maneuvers.
"The pilots have counter-arguments," the media says.
I imagine they would. Anyway, according to Jane's, those 12 Su-25s would represent the entire inventory of the Georgian air force's fixed-wing combat aircraft. (In fact, the Su-25 was produced in, of all places, Tbilisi.) So it seems a little skepticism is called for until we hear more reports.
Joshua Kucera, a senior correspondent, is Eurasianet's former Turkey/Caucasus editor and has written for the site since 2007.
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