Georgia marks 31st anniversary of Air Force

Georgia is marking the 31st anniversary of the country’s Air Force today, celebrating the day in 1992 when Izani Tsertsvadze and Valeri Nakopia became the first pilots in independent Georgia to take off for a flight in two Su-25 ground attack aircraft.

Deputy Defence Minister Giorgi Khaindrava, Deputy Chief of the Defence Forces, Major General Joni Tatunashvili and Colonel Sergo Ninua, the Commander of Aviation and Air Defence addressed the event at the Alekseevka air base in Tbilisi.

The officials laid a wreath at the memorial for those fallen for Georgia's independence and continued the event by awarding meritorious military service members with medals.

After the official part of the event, the guests got acquainted with Air Force equipment.

The history of Georgian military aviation begins from the period of the first democratic republic of Georgia, when the first military aviation unit was formed by the decision of the then state legislature on August 20, 1918.