Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing

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This article is about the Tbilaviamsheni Manufacturing Company, for the Georgian airline
see TAM Air

JSC "TAM" Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing

Logo

Tbilisi Aviation factory

Type Privatized corporation

Industry Aerospace
 Genre Manufacturing

Founded December 12, 1941

Founder Soviet Union

Headquarters 191, Monk Gabriel Salosi Ave., 0144, Tbilisi,

Georgia,

Tbilisi

Georgia

Area served Commonwealth of Independent States

Key people Nodar Beridze, General Director

Products Jet Aircraft

Armoured Personnel Carriers

Website http://www.tam.ge/

Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing (TAM), also known as JSC Tbilaviamsheni, is

a Georgian aerospace development and manufacturing company, which also partially
handles the construction of domestic weapons, armoured vehicles and artillery systems.
TAM has trained a number of their production supervision, employees and engineers in long-
term training programs in Western aerospace manufacturing plants.[1]

Contents

 1History
 2Current production table
o 2.1Civilian aircraft
o 2.2Multirole aircraft
o 2.3Infantry fighting vehicle
o 2.4Armoured personnel carriers
o 2.5Artillery systems
o 2.6Small arms
o 2.7Anti-tank devices
o 2.8Military items
 3Customers
 4References
 5External links
History[edit]
Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing (former Tbilisi Aircraft State Association) was established on
December 15, 1941. In the early days of World War II the aircraft factories
of Taganrog and Sevastopol were moved to Tbilisi, Georgia. Soon after the move, Tbilisi
Aircraft State Association (TAM) launched the production of its first fighter aircraft, the LaGG-
3. Through the war TAM manufactured a number of additional fighter aircraft for the former
Soviet Air Force such as LaGG-3 and Yak-3. During World War II, the company was the sole
supplier of fighter aircraft to the Caucasian front.[2]
Following World War II, TAM worked in conjunction with the Yakovlev Design Bureaus to
build the first Soviet jet fighter, the Yak-15 in 1946 followed by the Yak-17, Yak-23 and Yak-
23 twin-seat trainer jet.[2]
In the 1950s the factory started the production of Mikoyan's MiG-15 and later, the MiG-
17 fighter aircraft. In 1957 Tbilisi Aircraft State Association built the MiG-21 two-seater fighter-
trainer aircraft and its various derivative aircraft, continuing the MiG-21 production for about
25 years. At the same time the company was manufacturing the K-10 air-to-surface guided
missile.[2] The company also began to diversify into civil engineering projects, producing cable
car cabins and equipment between 1950 and 1990. Still-functioning Tbilisi Aviation Factory
cable cars include those
in Crimea, Kislovodsk, Pyatigorsk, Sochi, Sigulda, Khulo, Chiatura, Borjomi, and Kutaisi.[3]
The first Sukhoi SU-25 (known in the West as the "Frogfoot") close support aircraft took its
maiden voyage from the runway of Tbilisi State Association. Since then, more than 800 SU-
25s have been delivered to the customers worldwide. From the first SU-25 to the present
day, JSC Tbilaviamsheni is only manufacturer of this type of aircraft. Along with the SU-25
aircraft Tbilisi State Association also launched large scale production of air-to-air R-60 and R-
73 IR guided missiles, a production effort that built over 6,000 missiles a year and that lasted
until the early 1990s.[2]
In the mid 1980s Tbilisi Aircraft State Association also participated in former Soviet space
program "Buran" (the Soviet analog of Space Shuttle) by manufacturing and assembling
various parts and assemblies for this program.
In the late 1990s there was a joint project of Tbilaviamsheni and the Georgian Space
Constructions' Institute to design and produce the space antenna-reflector which were
successful used in their first attempt on Russian space station "MIR".[2]
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.[4]
During the South Ossetia war of August 2008, the Russian air force bombed the TAM factory,
resulting in unknown damage.[5]
The company cooperates closely with the defence ministry's scientific technical center for
military research.
Since 2005 TAM is constantly being upgraded and added more industrial complexes,
including tank construction and maintenance plants. After 2008, focus is mainly tensioned on
the development and construction of the Didgori Armoured Personnel
Carrier series, Lazika Infantry Fighting Vehicle, and ZCRS-122 MLRS.
In April 2012, Georgia unveiled its first unmanned aerial vehicle to the public. The
manufacturer will most likely produce a constantly modified series of such vehicles, equipped
with latest technology.[6]TAM also includes diverse weapons manufacturing plants which were
unveiled for the first time to the public in 2012. These plants produce a large variety of small
arms, ammunition and artillery systems.

Current production table[edit]

TAM has been upgraded and added several additional plants to fulfill the needs of the
military, which took complete directorate over the company in 2009. That however does not
prevent the factory to continue the production of civilian aircraft. This is the current line of
production:[7]
Civilian aircraft[edit]

 Tam Jet – (four-seated private jet)

 Elit Jet – (seven-seated private jet)
Multirole aircraft[edit]

 UAVs
Infantry fighting vehicle[edit]

 Lazika
Armoured personnel carriers[edit]

 Didgori-1
 Didgori-2
 Didgori-3
 TAAV Three-axle armored vehicle
Artillery systems[edit]

 'Mkudro' 40–82 mm hand mortars

 60 mm mortars
 82 mm mortars
 120 mm mortars
 ZCRS-122
Small arms[edit]

 Pistols
 G13 carbine
 Anti materiel rifles
o PDSHP
 PDM-1 rocket-propelled grenade launchers
 RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade launchers
 RPGL-7G rocket-propelled grenade launchers
 GP-25 and AG-40 grenade launchers
Anti-tank devices[edit]

 RD-7 off-route anti-tank mine

Military items[edit]

 Uniforms
 Ballistic gear
 Weapons

Customers[edit]
 Azerbaijan – Bought Several Su-25 aircraft.
 Croatia
 Democratic Republic of the Congo
 Equatorial Guinea
 Gambia
 Iran
 Indonesia
 Saudi Arabia – Bought 100 Didgori MEDEVAC.
 Turkmenistan
 Soviet Union

References[edit]
1. ^ TAM GlobalSecurity.org
2. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e "Tbilisi Aerospace Manufacturing (TAM)". Retrieved 2007-04-24.
3. ^ Канатная дорога // Большая советская энциклопедия : [в 30 т.] / гл. ред. А. М.
Прохоров. — 3-е изд. — М. : Советская энциклопедия, 1969–1978.
4. ^ TamJet page
5. ^ "Tbilisi Aerospace Manufacturing [TAM]". Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.
Retrieved 2008-01-19.
6. ^ "Ministry of Defence of Georgia". mod.gov.ge. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012.
Retrieved 29 May 2015.
7. ^ "Ministry of Defence of Georgia". mod.gov.ge. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
Retrieved 29 May 2015.