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Afghan Air Force receives two C-130H : More on the way!

C-130 will be a huge boost for Afghanistan's transport fleet.but I think they not only need these costly transport aircrafts,but also they need something which will fill the role of An-32.C-295 will be a great choice for this..also,I'm happy to see that AAF has got good number of helos as it'll help them to improve their airlift capabilities as well as evac soldiers from battlefield.but Why only Mi-17??shouldn't they induct more utility/multirole helos in the class of Dhruv,cause these helos will be far more easier to operate in battlefield than Mi-17??they should take care about this filed too.I was sad to read that ANA soldiers were dying cause there was few helos to serve as air Ambulance.something Dhruv can fill this role smoothly.what do you say guys???Even Turkey and Peru is buying this helo to fill their air ambulance role..


800px-HAL_Dhruv_Ambulance_Version.jpg
 
More a question for the folks who are in the know about aviation stuff:

How are the Afghans going to run C-130s when they could not keep the C-27A running? (was the C-27a a very poor aircraft?)

I don't know if any of what is posted in the article below is true - but if it is, it's hard to see what all the celebration is about - it reminds of two year olds jumping with joy when their daddy buys them a new matchbox - so much for my tax dollars.

Perhaps some of us who are US taxpayers should start a campaign to petition our Lawmakers to stop this stupid waste of our money.

Below from strategypage.com:

August 13, 2013: The U.S. is hustling to get Afghanistan four second-hand C-130H transports (and possibly more) to replace the 20 C-27A transports the Afghans had but could not support. The C-130H is the most common version is the C-130. It has a range of 8,368 kilometers, a top speed of 601 kilometers per hour, and can carry up to 18 tons of cargo, 92 troops, or 64 paratroopers. Apparently the U.S. feels it will be easier, and possible, to keep a smaller number of C-130Hs operational, especially if American aid officials take more control over maintenance funds. The Afghan pilot shortage is bad, but not so bad they cannot muster crews for fewer C-130Hs. If this works more C-130Hs can be added as conditions permit.

Late last year Afghanistan announced that it would cancel the contract to buy and use 20 C-27A transports. The official reason was the inability of the Italian maintenance firm to keep the aircraft operational. The unofficial reason is the unwillingness of the Italians to pay as much in bribes as the Afghan officials were demanding. Over half a billion dollars was being spent on buying and operating these aircraft and all the money was coming from the United States. Afghan government and air force officials were determined to grab as much of that cash as possible. That meant there was not enough money for the spare parts and tools needed to keep the C-27As flying. The Afghans can be self-destructive in so many ways, and letting these transports get away because not enough could be stolen from the contracts was another example.

The Afghan Air Corps was supposed to get 20 C-27A transports, but only 16 had been delivered when the contract was cancelled. These Italian made aircraft are easy to fly and very popular with their Afghan pilots, as well as several other nations that use them. Able to carry up to ten tons of cargo, the C-27As gave the Afghan military a more reliable (than older Russian An-32s) and flexible air transport capability. For example, the C-27A can fly as slow as 160 kilometers an hour, with the cargo door open, to drop cargo by parachute. Until 2015, Afghanistan can depend on NATO transports, but after that they will be on their own. To deal with that Afghanistan was going to buy some An-32s from Ukraine, but that didn’t work out either and five of these aircraft are still around but unfit to operate.

The C-27As were obtained for Afghanistan by the U.S., from the Italian Air Force, for $16 million each. The C-27A is a two engine medium range transport, designed to fly into small airfields at high altitudes. This 28 ton aircraft usually carries six tons (or 34 passengers) for up to 2,500 kilometers and lands on smaller airfields than the C-130 can handle. The U.S. Air Force bought ten C-27As in the 1990s, but took them out of service because it was cheaper to fly stuff in the larger C-130. At least until the air force had to operate in Afghanistan.

Two of the Afghan C-27As were outfitted as VIP transports, for the Afghan president and other senior officials. That indicates how safe and reliable the Afghans considered their new, although second-hand, transports. Afghanistan also has six Russian An-32s. These twin engine transports are actually a modernized and more recent version of the Russian An-24 transport. The original design is from the early 1960s. The An-32 can carry 6 tons of cargo or up to 50 passengers. Max speed is 540 kilometers an hour and range is 2,500 kilometers. The crew consists of two pilots and a loadmaster. The An-32 is still in production (361 have been built since 1976) and it is used by air forces in India, Bangladesh, and Ukraine. Parts are easier to get than for the C-27A and maintenance is simpler. But the corruption and personnel shortages in Afghanistan made even the An-32s too much to handle.
 
We are exactly going to use them for anti insurgent operations.
The Afghan infrastructure is not good and secure enough forlarger movement of military personal, therefore these will airlift troops to combat areas.

hey how many helis and what types does Afganistan have??
 
More a question for the folks who are in the know about aviation stuff:

How are the Afghans going to run C-130s when they could not keep the C-27A running? (was the C-27a a very poor aircraft?)

I don't know if any of what is posted in the article below is true - but if it is, it's hard to see what all the celebration is about - it reminds of two year olds jumping with joy when their daddy buys them a new matchbox - so much for my tax dollars.

Perhaps some of us who are US taxpayers should start a campaign to petition our Lawmakers to stop this stupid waste of our money.

Below from strategypage.com:

August 13, 2013: The U.S. is hustling to get Afghanistan four second-hand C-130H transports (and possibly more) to replace the 20 C-27A transports the Afghans had but could not support. The C-130H is the most common version is the C-130. It has a range of 8,368 kilometers, a top speed of 601 kilometers per hour, and can carry up to 18 tons of cargo, 92 troops, or 64 paratroopers. Apparently the U.S. feels it will be easier, and possible, to keep a smaller number of C-130Hs operational, especially if American aid officials take more control over maintenance funds. The Afghan pilot shortage is bad, but not so bad they cannot muster crews for fewer C-130Hs. If this works more C-130Hs can be added as conditions permit.

Late last year Afghanistan announced that it would cancel the contract to buy and use 20 C-27A transports. The official reason was the inability of the Italian maintenance firm to keep the aircraft operational. The unofficial reason is the unwillingness of the Italians to pay as much in bribes as the Afghan officials were demanding. Over half a billion dollars was being spent on buying and operating these aircraft and all the money was coming from the United States. Afghan government and air force officials were determined to grab as much of that cash as possible. That meant there was not enough money for the spare parts and tools needed to keep the C-27As flying. The Afghans can be self-destructive in so many ways, and letting these transports get away because not enough could be stolen from the contracts was another example.

The Afghan Air Corps was supposed to get 20 C-27A transports, but only 16 had been delivered when the contract was cancelled. These Italian made aircraft are easy to fly and very popular with their Afghan pilots, as well as several other nations that use them. Able to carry up to ten tons of cargo, the C-27As gave the Afghan military a more reliable (than older Russian An-32s) and flexible air transport capability. For example, the C-27A can fly as slow as 160 kilometers an hour, with the cargo door open, to drop cargo by parachute. Until 2015, Afghanistan can depend on NATO transports, but after that they will be on their own. To deal with that Afghanistan was going to buy some An-32s from Ukraine, but that didn’t work out either and five of these aircraft are still around but unfit to operate.

The C-27As were obtained for Afghanistan by the U.S., from the Italian Air Force, for $16 million each. The C-27A is a two engine medium range transport, designed to fly into small airfields at high altitudes. This 28 ton aircraft usually carries six tons (or 34 passengers) for up to 2,500 kilometers and lands on smaller airfields than the C-130 can handle. The U.S. Air Force bought ten C-27As in the 1990s, but took them out of service because it was cheaper to fly stuff in the larger C-130. At least until the air force had to operate in Afghanistan.

Two of the Afghan C-27As were outfitted as VIP transports, for the Afghan president and other senior officials. That indicates how safe and reliable the Afghans considered their new, although second-hand, transports. Afghanistan also has six Russian An-32s. These twin engine transports are actually a modernized and more recent version of the Russian An-24 transport. The original design is from the early 1960s. The An-32 can carry 6 tons of cargo or up to 50 passengers. Max speed is 540 kilometers an hour and range is 2,500 kilometers. The crew consists of two pilots and a loadmaster. The An-32 is still in production (361 have been built since 1976) and it is used by air forces in India, Bangladesh, and Ukraine. Parts are easier to get than for the C-27A and maintenance is simpler. But the corruption and personnel shortages in Afghanistan made even the An-32s too much to handle.

The problem in the official report on this case was not afghan maintaining problem, but the company which should deliver spare parts, never did.
The C-130H is easy to maintain because you can get spare parts from all over the globe, while the C-27 was not a common plane, and therefore was there a lack of spare part supliers.
 
right now we have:
55-65 Mi-17 v5's
6 MD500

by 2017 we will have:
75+ Mi-17v5
60 MD500
And probably Dhruv, the indian goverment said they will deliver som utility helis, but didn't say what type.

actually,Indian govt supplied/will supply some Cheetal Helos..

but you're right.there was talk about Dhruv for Afghanistan.India supplied a lot of neighbours this helo.sure Afghanistan can get one or two piece of this pie,if post 2014 remains somewhat on the favor of Afghanistan and not for Taliban.
 
The problem in the official report on this case was not afghan maintaining problem, but the company which should deliver spare parts, never did.
The C-130H is easy to maintain because you can get spare parts from all over the globe, while the C-27 was not a common plane, and therefore was there a lack of spare part supliers.

So the rest of the Air forces can fly C-27s but the Afghans can't ?

I think US Tax payers need to say No!
 
So the rest of the Air forces can fly C-27s but the Afghans can't ?

I think US Tax payers need to say No!

the maintaining contract was rewarded to an Italian firm, while i'm sure that the US produces their own spare parts.
The Italian firm didn't do what the promised, and therefore AAF cleary told The US, that AAF had no interest and will not operate those C-27's anymore, beacuse they had coused more problems and benefits.
Read the Report.
 
I thought some of the pro-talibs here are still thinking that the US is going to leave the region :)

"The Afghan Air Force currently plans and flies 90 percent of the sorties flown in support of operations," said Brig. Gen. John Michel, NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan commander. "They are maturing at an exponential rate, and the continuous demonstration of resolve and commitment to grow this Afghan Air Force is inspiring. Today's acceptance ceremony reflects a significant increase in capabilities that almost doubles the ability to provide troop transport, resupply and CASEVAC operations."

Afghan Air Force receives “Hercules” of an aircraft

Don't mistake common sense for being pro-taliban. The US is going to leave the region, especially since the Afghan gov is starting to get increasingly hostile. I WISH they'd stay, I really do, because their absence is terrible for Pakistan in the long term.

The C-130H are being handed over as a courtesy, nothing more. In the long run, the Afghans won't be able to use it because they won't be able to afford the long term costs of maintaining even 1 C-130H. Foreign funding is going to run out eventually, and if Afghanistan's economy doesn't start getting up on it's feet and feeding itself, then there is little point in the allied nations to continue to fund Afghanistan.

Unless the ANA can win this war within the next 3 years, this sale is worthless.
 
C-130 will be a huge boost for Afghanistan's transport fleet.but I think they not only need these costly transport aircrafts,but also they need something which will fill the role of An-32.C-295 will be a great choice for this..also,I'm happy to see that AAF has got good number of helos as it'll help them to improve their airlift capabilities as well as evac soldiers from battlefield.but Why only Mi-17??shouldn't they induct more utility/multirole helos in the class of Dhruv,cause these helos will be far more easier to operate in battlefield than Mi-17??they should take care about this filed too.I was sad to read that ANA soldiers were dying cause there was few helos to serve as air Ambulance.something Dhruv can fill this role smoothly.what do you say guys???Even Turkey and Peru is buying this helo to fill their air ambulance role..


800px-HAL_Dhruv_Ambulance_Version.jpg

Ofcourse we want some Dhruv's, but as you know, our state is low on money, and the only way i can see the Dhruv in AAF is if India donates them :undecided:
 
So Afghanistan is taking over Pakistan in this field too. Congrats to Afghan brothers :cheers:

What are you on about? Pakistan has been looking to replace its aging C-130H fleet with a better platform, while the AAF has just gotten these obsolete aircrafts.
 
Soviets also gave a huge number of weapons to their puppet Government in Afghanistan on their way out. What happened?

Soviet Union collapses and so did Afghanistan's Government.
 
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