US forces' combat, logistics hardware arrives to Poti port for Noble Partner drills

Heavy military hardware of the United States armed forces is on its way from Georgia's Black Sea coast to the Vaziani military polygon outside Tbilisi, ahead of the opening of the Noble Partner multinational drills on Monday.

Stryker armoured fighting vehicles, Humvee utility vehicles, artillery pieces and logistical support trucks were unloaded from the Ocean Freedom dry cargo ship at the Poti port starting in the night of Thursday to Friday.

The American hardware was then moved under a convoy to the Georgian Defence Forces' 2nd Infantry Brigade base in Senaki in the west of the country. The vehicles will leave the base in two phases on Sunday and Tuesday and be moved to the GDF 4th Mechanised Brigade base in Vaziani, which will host the drills.

Both combat and logistics hardware was delivered to the port to contribute to the drills starting on Monday. Screenshot from Ministry of Defence of Georgia video.

The American hardware was dispatched from the Norfolk International Terminals at the Port of Virginia, before being loaded onto the cargo ship in Romania's port of Constanta and delivered to Poti.

Meanwhile American servicemembers have been arriving in phases to the Tbilisi International Airport, in preparation of the exercise that will involve over 2,700 troops at Vaziani Military Airfield and polygon outside Tbilisi as well as Camp Norio in Georgia's east.

Noble Partner 2020 will see US, Georgian, French, British and Polish troops practice staff drills as well as field operations involving support elements. GDF armoured vehicles and artillery will be used in the manoeuvres alongside armour and air support from the US forces, with the exercise set to run between September 7-18.