Georgia-US led multinational Noble Partner drills kick off in Georgia

Noble Partner 2018, a Georgian Armed Forces and the US Army Europe led exercise has officially kicked off in Georgia today.

Under the slogan  Strength Through Partnership, the exercise is being hosted by the Vaziani Military Base in the outskirts of Tbilisi for the fourth time.

Soldiers from 13 nations are involved in the drills which will continue until August 16.

Georgian top officials attended the opening ceremony of the Noble Partner 2018. Photo: President of Georgia press office. 

After speeches from Georgian top officials and the US ambassador, the drills continued with an air descent operation involving Georgian, US and German servicemen.

Our participation in the drills is the guarantee of the stability and peace our governments serve to,” Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili stated. 

Georgian Defence Minister Levan Izoria stated that the Georgian Armed Forces has experienced a "vital transformation.” 

Georgian President with one of the firearms. Photo: President of Georgia press office. 

Our goal is to have the armed forces which will be in full line with NATO standards, which, together with fulfillment of national defence tasks, will be a full-fledged contributor for international peace and security,” Izoria said. 

The 13 participating states are: Georgia, the US, the UK, Germany, Estonia, France, Lithuania, Poland, Norway, Turkey, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The number of soldiers is over 3,000.

Air descent operation involving Georgian, US and German servicemen. Photo: President of Georgia press office. 

The exercise, which aims to enhance participating nations’ readiness and interoperability, is complex and it includes command-staff and field trainings combined with combat shootings, as well as interaction of combat support elements in defence and attack operations.