The FINANCIAL — Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing and MARKET-MATS, with the support of The Get It Group LLC, have signed an agreement to locate their advanced manufacturing campuses in the Hereford Enterprise Zone and Model Farm Ross-on-Wye, creating over 1,000 new jobs, over 10 per cent of whom will be apprentices, and increasing local spending power by £20 million per annum.
Announcement was made by UK Trade and Investment Agency last week. Each campus will have its own apprenticeship training school and at least 10% of the employees will come through the schools at any one time, providing much need employment for the young people in the region.
Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing (TAM), also known as JSC Tbilaviamsheni, is a Georgian aerospace developement and manufacturing company, which also partially handles the construction of domestic weapons, armoured vehicles and artillery systems.
The Georgian MoD has declined to respond to inquiries from Civil.ge about the details of the plan or which segment of TAM’s production is planned to be located in Hereford enterprise zone, citing that “details are still being worked out”. TAM has not responded to repeated requests for comment either and Get It Group LLC has not yet replied to an email.
Since 2001, TAM is constructing the Su-25U, upgrading the Su-25 to the Su-25KM Scorpion and also constructing and marketing civilian Very light jet (VLJ) known as the TamJet.
During the South Ossetia war of August 2008, the Russian air force bombed the TAM factory, resulting in unknown damage.
Since 2005 TAM is constantly being upgraded and added more industerial complexes, including tank construction and maintenance plants. After 2008, focus is mainly tensioned on the developement and construction of the Didgori Armoured Personnel Carrier series, Lazika Infantry Fighting Vehicle, and ZCRS-122 MLRS.
In April 2012, Georgia unvealed its first unmanned aerial vehicle to the public. The manufactury will most likely produce constantly modified series of such vehicles, equipped with latest technology. TAM also includes diverse weapon manufactury plants which were unvealed for the first time to public in 2012. These plants produce large variety of small arms, ammunition and artillery systems.
Discussion about this post