A Su-25 jet "crashed during military training involving air defence components," the ministry said in a statement.

"Air force pilot Kakhaber Zurabashvili tragically perished in the catastrophe," the ministry said, adding that a probe has been launched to determine the causes of the incident.

The Su-25 is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in 1975 in the Soviet Union to provide close air support for Soviet ground forces.

It began mass production in 1978 at Tbilisi's Tbilaviamsheni aircraft manufacturing plant.

In 2022, a Georgia border police helicopter crashed near the northern winter resort town of Gudauri, killing all eight people on board.