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Afghan Air Force receives four more Mi-17s

  • Published
  • By MC3 Jared E. Walker
  • 438th AEW PA
KABUL, Afghanistan --  The Afghan Air Force received delivery of four new Mi-17 V5 transport helicopters on Dec. 10, 2010, bringing the current fleet to 35. This delivery completes the purchase of ten helicopters for the AAF.

The Ministry of Defense plans to take delivery of another 21 choppers 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 are modified in Dubai to comply with AAF configuration requirements. AAF standards include a new cockpit, gun mounts and a tricolor paint scheme.

"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, the Strategic Planner for the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing.

The Mi-17 is perfectly suited to the needs of Afghanistan. Its original design was one optimized for Afghanistan's high, rugged terrain and blistering summer temperatures. Second, Afghans have been flying and training in these aircraft for the last 30 years. They are already familiar with maintenance requirements of the aircraft, and using them allowed an air force with considerable battlefield mobility to rise from the ashes of Afghanistan's war-torn past with almost immediate impact. Finally, the price is very reasonable when compared against Western aircraft of similar high-altitude lifting and payload capability.

The service ceiling of the Mi-17 is over 16,000 feet and can transport 24 passengers or 8,800 lbs. of cargo. The Mi-17 comes with a price tag of approximately $15 million, which is one-half to one-third as expensive as Western aircraft with similar capabilities.

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 have added an air assault and sling load capability.

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.