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US Prepares First Black Hawk Deliveries to Afghanistan
NATO announced on its Resolute Support Facebook page on 15 August that, with the first aircraft now tested and ready for delivery, the remaining three of the first batch will all be ready for handover to the Afghan Air Force (AAF) by the end of September.
The Afghan military — like the U.S.-led coalition — has leaned heavily on airpower for troop transport and offensive operations.
The latest estimates from the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction show that roughly 18 of the Afghan Air Force’s Mi-17s are currently unusable — though the report notes that most of the issues with the old Russian helos are due to overuse.
In addition to the Black Hawks, Afghanistan will be getting a few fixed-wing aircraft — six A-29 fixed wing close attack aircraft and five armed AC-208s — as well as 30 MD-530 Cayuse Warrior ground attack helicopters.