US to equip Afghan Air Force with large number of Black Hawk Helicopters

KABUL – US will handover about 20 UH-60 Black Hawks helicopters in the nextnine months to the Afghan Air Force (AAF.)

AP reported that US Air Force officials said since last November 11 BlackHawk helicopters have been handed to the AAF and the process will continue.

The training of AAF pilots to fly Black Hawks is meanwhile ongoing at theKandahar airport, AP reported.

The Pentagon has said it will replace Russian MI-17 helicopters with BlackHawks as they are better suited to the conditions in Afghanistan.

“The MI-17, that the UH-60 is going to replace, is not sustainable as ahelicopter. So, what we are doing is we’re giving the Afghan Air Force asustainable, very highly capable and battle-proven helicopter that they cantake forward into the fight as they continue to safeguard their country,”US Major Ted Rogers, Director of Operations 44th Air Expeditionary AdvisorySquadron said.

Afghan pilots receiving training on UH-60 Black Hawks said they welcomedthe move and agreed the fighter helicopters were better suited toAfghanistan’s conditions therefore allowing for quick support to groundtroops when needed, AP reported.

“The important thing that our forces need in the battlefields is to beprovided with timely reinforcement and equipment and the Black Hawk is theonly helicopter that can reach them quickly and provide them with bettersupport,” Lieutenant Massehullah Kakar, an Afghan Air Force pilot and UH-60Black Hawk helicopter trainee said.

Currently AAF has 46 MI-17 Russian helicopters, which are mostly used tocarry in reinforcements and to provide equipment to ground forces. Out ofthe 46, only 25 of them are active and the rest are not in service.

“These very same aircraft were the ones used by US forces. The importanceof lift is critical to the battlefield, this is why the UH-60 Alpha iscoming at such a decisive moment. We had a very good fighting season lastyear, we expect that the fight will continue this year and in the years tocome and the UH-60 is going to be a critical element to move troops andbring casualties out of the field, a critical element in any fight,” USColonel Armando E. Fiterre, Commander 73th Air Expeditionary Advisory groupsaid.

In addition to UH-60 Black Hawks, other helicopters, including surveillancehelicopters such as IC-208, MD 530 and A-29 helicopters, have been providedto the AAF by the US.