Russian helicopters vs. Georgian tanks or it is better to trade

A special military operation was carried out by a group of State Security service special group at the north border of Georgia in the beginning of January.

On January, 6 a group of Russian Special Forces landed on the peak of Elbrus by a special helicopter. Elbrus is the highest mountain in Europe (5642m. from the Sea Level); thus not only landing, but flying at this height for a helicopter is an onerous task. It's noteworthy that among the group of Special Forces who landed on Elbrus was Patrushev, the director of Russian State Security Service. He declared that the operation had no analogue in the world.

Landing of the helicopter was part of the training Russia had been carrying out at the north border of Georgia since the last month. To be more precise, State Security Service has launched the training which envisages mastering the airborne operations in the mountainous region of the Caucasus. According to the training program, aircrafts and helicopters carrying special task force groups, simultaneously took up from different airfields. The operation was fulfilled under the conditions close to real military operations and was accordingly disguised.

During this training the Special Forces landed at different points of North Caucasus, demonstrating that they can mobilize Special Task Force groups all over Russia and land them at the point of destination, this time close to the border of Georgia.

For the director of State Security Service Patrushev, landing on Elbrus was a promotion show.

Last year he landed his helicopter on the South Pole (the helicopter took off from the Russian warship drifting in the Atlantic). It cost millions of Russian tax payer's rubles.

The peak of Elbrus is the point from which Georgia is visible without the aid of any optical device; so we can assume that the director of Russian State Security Service had the pleasure of freely observing Georgia...

Meanwhile....

There are more than 160 T-72 tanks (of different modification) in the arsenal of Georgian Army. Part of them is more than 20 years old. In the 1970th-1980th T- 72 were considered to be modern machines, but today they are obsolete. However, it is not its engine or armor that is outdated, but its radio-electronic and optical-electronic equipment. There are two possible solutions: either we dismantle these tanks and buy new ones, which is connected with substantial expenses, or we have them radically modernized. We should take into consideration that in 2003, there were only 39 T- 72s at Georgia's disposal (8 of them belonged to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the rest - to the army), while almost 130 different modifications of T-72s were bought in Ukraine and Chech republic during the last four years. To dismantle tanks which were purchased only 2-3 years ago, no matter how outdated they are, is incredible. So the decision to modify them seems quite logical.

The modernization will touch five main components, which guarantee the second life of these 20 year old tanks and may come close to modern American 'Abrahams,' German 'Leopards' and Israeli 'Merkevs'.

Hmmm.....

If we presume that Russia is a potential aggressor/enemy of Georgia, why do we need so many tanks? Great Caucasian mountains divide Georgia from Russia (mainly), and one should invest more into the equipment of the Air Forces. These old fashioned tanks equiped with modern technologies and electronics are good to fight maybe just with Armenia, Azerbaijan and the secessionist government of Abkhazia, but not with Russia...

Hmmmm....

Still remember Russian threats to impose economic embargo on Latvia, but it never happened. Reason? It is easy to explain - business in Latvia mainly run by local Russian speakrers and the biggest investors are from Norway, Sweden, Russia and now Estonia. For example, "Latvijas Balsams" is owned now by S.P.I. Worldwide Trade Limited, which is a subsidiary of Russian owned S.P.I. Group, leading vodka producer in Russia. It is modern nowadays among Russian businessmen to have a summer cottage in Jurmala, where they spend just few days during the International song competition "New Wave" organised every June. Our economies are intertwined... Are there any serious investments of Russia in Georgia? Do not know, really, it is really interesting to know..... It was Georgia who heavily depended on Russia, not vice versa... Maybe it is important not just attract investors from Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, US, European and Arab countries, but also from Russia? Anyway Russia will not run away and stay forever as your neghbour. It is better to trade than insult each other...