Georgia to Phase Out Mi-8, Mi-24 in Favor of Western Rotorcrafts

December 29, 2013 by Tamir Eshel


Georgia is set to replace its Russian supplied helicopter fleet, Georgian defense minister Irakli Alasania confirmed last week. He said his country intends to replace the Russian made helicopters with ‘american helicopters’. Until the early 2000s Georgia relied almost exclusively on Russian suppleid arms, having 16 Mi-8 (HIP assault helicopters), 16 Mi-14 (Haze maritime search and rescue helicopters) and 12 Mi24 (Hind attack helicopters) in service. The trend changed when Tiblisi turned west, reaching out to join NATO. As part of this move, Georgia acquired unmanned aerial systems and air defense missiles from Israel, and received at least 12 Bell UH-1H helicopters from the USA and Turkey. Following the war with Russiia in 2008 Georgia has lost some of these helicopters (attacked on the ground). Some of these losses were covered by the delivery of more Hueys from the US. Meanwhile, the airworthiness of the remaining birds dropped, lacking consistent supply of spare parts and support from Russia.




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Georgian Air Force Mi-24P (Hind F) flying over the capital Tiblisi.


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Georgian AIr Force Mi-8S HIP C assault helicopter, used mainly for troop transport, search and rescue.
The Mi-8 are to be phased out while more UH-1Hs and other types are inducted into service.


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The Georgian Air Force had 21 Hind F (Mi-24P) in service.
According to Defense Minister Irakli Alasania, these will now be retired for western alternatives.


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