On February 10, 2021, the Ministry of Defense of Georgia held a ceremony to receive more than 300 new trucks of Western production, and on February 11 - American machine gun and grenade launcher weapons.
12.7-mm M2A1 machine guns and 40-mm automatic Mk 19 anti-personnel grenade launchers received by the Georgian Ministry of Defense. Vaziani, 11.02.2021 (c) Ministry of Defense of Georgia
On February 10, a ceremony was held at the Georgian Army's 4th Mechanized Brigade in Vaziani, near Tbilisi [...], to receive more than 300 new Western-made trucks, including kung trucks and IVECO Trakker-based tankers and IVECO and MAN trucks, from the Georgian Ministry of Defense. Recall that on June 22, 2020, Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Garibashvili signed contracts with representatives of MAN, IVECO and Ford companies in Tbilisi to purchase a total of more than 500 military vehicles of various types from these three manufacturers for the Georgian armed forces.
On 11 February, the Minister of defense of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili and the commander of the defence Forces of Georgia, major General Giorgi Matiashvili again called for the 4th mechanized brigade of the Georgian army in Vaziani, where personally acquainted with the process of equipping modern infantry divisions American-made weapons, including 12.7 mm machine guns М2А1 and 40-mm automatic easel grenade launchers, anti-personnel and band powered Mk 19 American production. The next batch of American M249 light machine guns with 5.56 x 45 mm NATO ammunition received by Georgia was also demonstrated.Georgian and American instructors of the Combat Training Center (CTC) at the Vaziani training ground organized demonstration firing of the received weapons.
Recall that the first batch of M249 machine guns received by the Georgian army from the United States was demonstrated in Vaziani in September 2020. In total, according to the statement of the US Embassy in Georgia, the Georgian side should receive 600 M249 roll-throwers.
It was reported that at the first stage, the M249 machine guns will be equipped with Georgian units trained under the joint GDRP (Georgia Defense Readiness Program) training program with the United States, as well as training units. The GDRP program was launched in May 2018 and covers the training and equipping of nine Georgian battalions according to NATO standards, with completion by July 2021. The program is implemented with the participation and support of the US European Command and at the expense of US military assistance to Georgia. The training of military personnel under this program is conducted with the participation of US military instructors with an emphasis on conducting defensive actions. Training in the use of M249 and M2A1 machine guns and Mk 19 grenade launchers is conducted with the participation of American instructors.
The 5.56 mm M249 light machine gun is a standard US Army variant of the Minimi machine gun developed by the Belgian company FN. The production of M249 machine guns for the US armed forces is carried out at the American enterprise FN Manufacturing LLC in Columbia (South Carolina), and it is the machine guns of this production that are delivered to Georgia.
12.7-mm M2A1 machine guns and 40-mm automatic Mk 19 anti-personnel grenade launchers received by the Georgian Ministry of Defense. Vaziani, 11.02.2021 (c) Ministry of Defense of Georgia
The next batch of 5.56-mm M249 light machine guns received by the Ministry of Defense of Georgia of American production. Vaziani, 11.02.2021 (c) Ministry of Defense of Georgia
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The ceremony of handing over to the Ministry of Defense of Georgia more than 300 new trucks of Western production, including kung trucks and tankers based on IVECO Trakker and IVECO and MAN trucks. Vaziani, 10.02.2021 (c) Ministry of Defense of Georgia
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