Georgia-US led multinational Noble Partner drills kick off in Georgia
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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.
Georgia is set to host this year’s Noble Partner multinational defence exercise with thousands of personnel and an increased quantity of hardware from over a dozen participating nations.
Troops and military hardware from NATO member states and Georgia’s allies have arrived in the country’s Black Sea port of Poti, a week before the multinational defence exercise Noble Partner kicks off outside the capital of Tbilisi.
US armoured fighting vehicles ‘Stryker’ are moving from Georgia’s western regions to the Vaziani Military air base outside capital Tbilisi, to participate in the large-scale Noble Partner 2017 exercises being held in Georgia between July 30 and August 12.
Georgia’s Minister of Defence Levan Izoria announced today that the large-scale Noble Partner 2017 exercises will start on July 30, with the involvement of five NATO member and three ally countries.
A Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter is leading the first-ever participation of United States’ offensive air assets in the Noble Partner 2018 multinational defence exercise in Georgia.
Service members accompanied by ground- and air assets from Georgian and allied nations featured in a show exercise which concluded the Noble Partner 2018 multinational defence exercise outside Tbilisi earlier today.