Georgian Defence Minister Tinatin Khidasheli has told journalists that she has signed an agreement with French manufacturers to purchase new missile and air defense systems. The document was drawn up during her private visit to Paris.
A few days ago, Ms. Khidasheli stated: "The historic agreement will be signed before the end of June," but did not name a specific date. But her reticence can be attributed to a desire to classify the date of the signature and the document itself. It has not been published, of course, and the content of the contract is known only in general terms. We are talking about the purchase by the Ministry of Defense of Georgia of the latest missile and air defense systems of French production. And payment will be made in installments – payment of the whole sum will be made over several years.
Irakli Alasania was the first to start the negotiations on deliveries of air defense systems to Georgia; however, he was scandalously fired from his post as the Minister of Defence in November last year. While the contract, according to him, was almost ready to be signed as early as the end of October. According to Alasania, the French anti-missiles will ensure the full security of Georgia, including against Russian ‘Iskander’ short-range missiles. "We at once and forever will cover ‘Iskander’ in the sky over our country," ex-minister says. Tinatin Khidasheli is not making such optimistic statements after the issuing of the contract, but also refers to the agreement with France as a key point in the security of the state."
However, in general, the story is veiled by the darkness of the unknown, and it contains a lot of questions. Firstly, it is not clear about exactly which anti-aircraft vehicles, particularly missile defense vehicles, we are taking about. The editor-in-chief of the military-analytical magazine Arsenal, Irakli Aladashvili , in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza could not name French missile defense systems that can deal effectively with the SS-26 ‘Iskander’, while even the famous American ‘Patriot’, in his opinion, does not guarantee complete protection against this latest development of the Russian defense industry.
The second question is the political background of the transaction. Note that official Paris is staying silent. The French Ambassador to Tbilisi, Rene Salens, in his recent comments (before the execution of the document) said that in this respect there are only discussions with the French arms manufacturers.
It is very difficult to imagine that in the current geopolitical conditions, when Paris, Berlin and even Washington obviously fluctuate on transferring arms to Ukraine, France suddenly decided to sell to Georgia the latest missile and air defense systems, inevitably causing irritation in Moscow, which always "scrupulously" views the appearance of weapons from Western countries on its borders. Especially when we are talking about an anti-missile system, which is seen sometimes in the context of broader discussions about "the global missile defense system."
But a fact is a fact, the document is signed, and the Minister of Defense of Georgia stated: "The country will receive these systems in the near future." We can only assume that, in fact, the actual delivery of weapons will require a political decision by the senior management in France. The agreement is designed only for "industry", that means with arms manufacturers, but the first delivery of weapons to Georgia (with service specialists missiles) will need the sanction of the president or prime minister of France. And to get such a sanction will certainly be difficult for the Georgian authorities.
In any case, the registration of the contract is a great diplomatic success for Tbilisi, even if the Georgian sky in the coming years will remain unprotected.
