Now that Russia and Georgia have launched into a full-scale war, let's take a look at how the two sides match-up. Here's a short and well-done report from John Noonan of DefenseTech.org
About the photo: Georgian Army tanks rumble through city streets en route to engage the Russian Army in combat
Georgia has roughly 30k troops serving in the Georgian Armed Forces, with 2,000 of their best troops serving in Iraq. Though small, the Georgian Army is respected by their Coalition partners in Iraq as a highly competent fighting force. They're equipped with relatively modern Russian weapons, to include some 200 tanks, 450 armored fighting vehicles, Su-25 and MiG-25 fighter jets, and a whole mess of artillery, mortars, surface to air missiles, etc etc.
The Russian bear is still, well... a juggernaut. Ivan's armed forces weigh in at just over 1 million troops. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation suffered during the harsh post-Soviet breakup defense cuts, but have since flourished under Vladimir Putin. They are technologically advanced, disciplined, and effectively trained. The Russians are familiar and comfortable operating in the Caucasus Mountain region, both from their unification with Georgia under the Soviet Empire and from their fighting in nearby Chechnya.
So yeah, on the surface, it looks like we've got a classic David v. Goliath matchup. Not so fast. As mentioned, the Georgians can be mean little bastards. They've got a home field advantage, are furiously calling up reserves, and are fighting a Russian enemy that has one (one!!) supply line over the Caucasus into South Ossetia. That logistics line, ironically enough, will be closed in a few short months by Russia's old tried and true ally -- Old Man Winter.
If Georgia can plug that hole, get creative with their air defense assets, kill a whole mess of Russians, and force this thing into a winter overtime -- I wouldn't be surprised if the international community forces a peace favorable to the Georgians.
Of course if they don't plug that line, I can see Russia's tanks bringing Georgia back into the family -- the old school way.
source: DefenseTech.org
Resources:
Georgia Armed Forces - Wikipedia
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