The US Department of Defense will end funding next year for the maintenance and repair of Russian Mi-17 helicopters in service with Afghanistan. This is due to the transition of the Afghan Air Force to the operation of the American UH-60 Black Hawk landing transport helicopters. This is stated in a new quarterly report submitted to the US Congress by the office of the US Government’s Inspector General for Reconstruction in Afghanistan John Sopko.
According to the document, dated July 30, at the initiative of the United States, the Afghan Air Force is switching to the operation of the American UH-60 Black Hawk landing transport helicopters, abandoning the Russian Mi-17s that are familiar to them.
“Fiscal 2022 will be the last when the US Department of Defense will require funds for the maintenance of Mi-17 helicopters. Some of them will remain in the (Afghan) park to provide combat capabilities until the UH-60 (vehicle) capability matures and the transition to (US airborne transport helicopters) CH-47 (Chinook) is complete”, – indicated in the report.
The day before, on July 29, at an Internet briefing for the Washington Defense Writers Group, John Sopko admitted that Washington’s decision to transfer the Afghan Air Force from the Mi-17 to the UH-60 was perceived by him as problematic.
“We came to the conclusion in previous [of our reports (to the US Legislature) that the Afghan Air Force was at a sustainability level of almost 90-97% using ex-Soviet helicopters when the US government decided to switch to UH-60 … And we said that this is the problem we identified”, commented Sopko.
“If the goal is to have a sustainable Afghan Air Force, by taking these actions, you (yourself) have put off the prospect of achieving this sustainability goal”, he said.
The Inspector General added that the decision to transfer Afghans to UH-60 had political aspects, refusing to discuss such details.
Recall that the purchase of Russian helicopters for the Afghan army was carried out earlier at the expense of the United States. Later, this program was curtailed by Washington after a sharp exacerbation of tensions in relations with Moscow. In the current report, Sopko clarifies that the Afghan Air Force has 56 Mi-17 helicopters, of which 32 can be operated.