Afghan Air Force receives four more Mi-17s

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Vladimir Potapenko | The Afghan Air Force accepts delivery of four Mi-17s V5 helicopters at the air force base in Kabul on Dec. 10.  

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

12.10.2010

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jared Walker 

438th Air Expeditionary Wing

KABUL, Afghanistan - The Afghan Air Force received delivery of four new Mi-17 V5 transport helicopters, bringing the current fleet to 35. This delivery completes the current contract to purchase ten helicopters for the AAF on Dec. 10, 2010.

The Ministry of Defense plans to take delivery of another 21 by 2013, bringing the total Mi-17 fleet to 56. The Mi-17 is the AAF's mainstay for airfield mobility and will be distributed to air units throughout Afghanistan.

These Russian-built aircraft were modified in Dubai to comply with AAF configuration requirements. The AAF standards include a new cockpit, gun mounts and a tricolor paint scheme.

The Mi-17 is perfectly suited to the needs of Afghanistan. Its original design was optimized for Afghanistan's high, rugged terrain and blistering summer temperatures. Afghans have flown variants of these aircraft for the last 30 years.

Already familiar with maintaining the Mi-17, expanding the legacy fleet facilitated the AAF’s rapid development of battlefield mobility to rise from the ashes of Afghanistan's war-torn past with almost immediate impact.

"The expansion of the Mi-17 fleet brings increasing capability to the AAF. Airpower is an important factor in a modern country's sovereignty, particularly one with significant geographic challenges like Afghanistan. Efforts are underway to deploy Mi-17s nationwide to expand this role. Assignments to Shindand, Herat, Maser-e-Sharif and Jalalabad should continue over the next three months," said Lt. Col. Robert A. Strasser, strategic planner for the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing.

The Mi-17 fleet provides the AAF with a wide variety of mission capabilities to include presidential/distinguished visitor transportation, medical and casualty evacuation, battlefield mobility, basic cargo airlift, reconnaissance, rotary-wing training, and close air support.

Recently, after completing critical training for its aircrew, the Afghans demonstrated air assault and sling load capability, as well.

Afghanistan's Mi-17s will be interoperable with allied and current coalition service systems. There are 77 other nations world-wide that currently employ the Mi-17, including coalition partners Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.

The Mi-17 has a service life of 25 years with overhauls every 2,000 flying hours. With normal projected attrition, the legacy aircraft will require recapitalization starting in 2014.

This represents the point at which the AAF will transition to a more western-based platform. Between fiscal years 2014 and 2016, there is a $1 billion budget request to initiate this modernization.

• Date Taken: 12.10.2010
• Date Posted: 12.11.2010 04:16
• Story ID: 61727
• Location: KABUL, AF