Helping Their Owners
MSNBC reports that U.S. buys Russian choppers for Afghan military
WASHINGTON – The U.S. government is snapping up Russian-made helicopters to form the core of Afghanistan’s fledgling air force, a strategy that is drawing flak from members of Congress who want to force the Afghans to fly American choppers instead.
In a turnabout from the Cold War, when the CIA gave Stinger missiles to Afghan rebels to shoot down Soviet helicopters, the Pentagon has spent $648 million to buy or refurbish 31 Russian Mi-17 transport helicopters for the Afghan National Army Air Corps. The Defense Department is seeking to buy 10 more of the Mi-17s next year, and had planned to buy dozens more over the next decade.
OK, the Mi-17 is an upgraded export version of the Soviet Mi-8 “Hip” and it is the standard helicopter in that area. All of the Central Asian nations fly it, the Indians and Pakistanis fly it, and the 6th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, just down the road from me flies them [it was very weird the first time I saw one down here]. They are cheap, tough, easy to fix, and familiar to everyone in that area. They are also specifically designed to fly in the dusty, mountainous conditions found in Central Asia, which can’t be said of US manufactured helicopters.
US defense contractors manufacture and sell the most sophisticated aircraft in the world, but the Afghan Army Air Corps needs something they know how to fly and know how to fix, or we are going to be stuck there another decade. They don’t need Formula One, they need pick-ups with no options.
2 comments
Indeed. The only reason we’re issuing M-16’s to the Afghan Army is so that when NATO troops get shot in combat actions in “partnership” with the Afghan Army, we can tell whether it was the Taliban or the Afghan Army’s “death blossom” that got’em (5.56mm vs. 7.62mm bullets for M16 vs. AK47). American choppers are so bloody expensive and high-tech that no nation that doesn’t start with an “I” can afford the damned things anyhow — and that includes the United States Army, BTW which is now sending their choppers back to the factory to be “remanufactured” rather than buying new ones.
I wouldn’t bet my butt on a US helicopter being flight worthy in Afghanistan. Flight a coin, altitude or dust eat them up.
You don’t need sophistication to pull a dust off, just something that will be ready to fly in and fly out without being stripped and sent to a depot.
Guys are bitching that they want bolt actions, pump shotguns, and revolvers because the dust is going to jam any auto-loader.
We have a problem keeping things running because most of the equipment is still designed for a war in Europe, except for the Rangers, who are down here training to fight in Southeast Asia.
Inertia, what would the military do without it?