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Building Air Power for Afghanistan

  • Published
  • By Cmdr. Joey Schwartz and Maj. Sonny Alberdeston
  • Combined Air Power Transition Force, Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan --  The Afghan National Army Air Corps is entering a new era. 

Decades of war have reduced a force of several hundred aircraft to less than two dozen flyable aircraft and a ruined infrastructure. The lack of aircraft, combined with poor maintenance practices, deficient logistics and limited command and control capabilities have hampered the Air Corps' ability to support the counterinsurgency fight in Afghanistan. 

All that is set to change as the Air Corps is poised to make tremendous strides with the acquisition of new aircraft, the institution of disciplined maintenance procedures, the development of a logistics sustainment system, and the establishment of a robust air tasking command and control process. 

The foundation for this progress is the strong will of the Afghan population. Through their actions, Air Corps members have demonstrated their will to fight, and their desire and ability to learn. 

Building a nation's air power capabilities from the runway up is never easy; a fact the 117 specialists in the Combined Air Power Transition Force recognized at first glance. The inherent cultural and logistical differences mandated that they help the Afghan Air Corps develop their own identity and emerge as a self-sufficient force. 

"The ultimate goal of the CAPTF is to produce a professional, fully capable and sustainable Afghan Air Corps that meets the security needs of Afghanistan," said Brig. Gen. Jay Lindell, CAPTF Commander. 

One major effort in building a sustainable air corps is training new airmen to eventually take the place of the current pilots and maintainers, many of whom began their careers working with the Soviet Union in the 1980s. For example, the average pilot in the ANAAC is 43 years old and has 2,500 hours of flight experience. New pilots are being trained in modern flight procedures and are taught English by the U.S. Defense Language Institute personnel at Kabul International Airport to help them meet international flight standards. 

Replacing the fleet of older Soviet-era aircraft is also a major undertaking that will continue over the next several years. The CAPTF has worked with the senior leadership of the Ministry of Defense to determine the needs of the ANAAC and find aircraft which will best meet their mission requirements. Over $465 million of fiscal year 2007 funding will be spent to acquire additional aircraft. 

The Air Corps currently operates eight Mi-17 helicopters and six Mi-35 gunships. The Mi-17s can carry up to 24 soldiers or two tons of cargo. Six refurbished Mi-17s have been donated by the Czech Republic with the first three delivered on Dec. 5. The remaining Mi-17s will be delivered in early 2008. Ten more Mi-17s, donated by the United Arab Emirates, are scheduled to begin arriving in before the end of the year. 

Two Antonov An-26 and two Antonov An-32 turboprop aircraft, which can carry up to 40 passengers or five tons of cargo, fulfill the light transport role. In the near term, the Air Corps will enhance its current capability with the addition of four more refurbished An-32s. The An-32s will continue to be the Air Corps' airlift workhorse until the arrival of C-27 aircraft in 2009. By 2011 the Air Corps expects to triple its current fleet by fielding 61 aircraft of all types. 

The acquisition of new aircraft is only one part of the overall strategy to build an Air Corps that meets the security needs of Afghanistan. The CAPTF is also helping the Air Corps in rebuilding their infrastructure, which was dilapidated by decades of war and neglect. The inauguration of the Joint Aviation Facility 1 in January 2008 is the first step towards a modernized infrastructure for the Air Corps. The JAF 1 is a state-of-the-art facility built by a joint Afghan and American team and will be used by the Air Corps and the Ministry of Interior. The facility will house fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, as well as unit-level maintenance, base operations, flight planning, and training spaces. 

In addition, an extensive joint Afghan-American construction project is underway at the airport, which will eventually be the headquarters of the ANAAC and serve as the home base for up to 46 aircraft and house 3,754 personnel in 10 modern barracks. Scheduled for opening in April 2008, this $182 million building project will become the national hub for presidential airlift, air mobility, and aircraft maintenance. 

To expand its presence throughout Afghanistan, the Air Corps will align its capabilities with the Afghan National Army's Regional Corps infrastructure. This basing strategy, which calls for an air wing at both Kabul and Kandahar and three forward operating locations in Gardez, Herat, and Mazar-e-Sharif, will place the air power closer to the fight. It will also enable the Air Corps to better fulfill the Afghan National Army's airlift requirements and support the rapid mobility Afghan commando battalions. The integration with the Army also extends to an alignment with each regional corps hospital in order to significantly increase the Air Corps medical evacuation capability. 

The CAPTF is also working with the Afghans to develop a logistics sustainment system to improve the Air Corps' intermediate and heavy maintenance capabilities and create a predictive supply process to manage the supply chain of spare parts, tools, and support equipment. 

"Building the backbone of the Afghan Air Corps is the logistics sustainment system," General Lindell said. "To build this backbone for a logistics sustainment system, we will require resources, training, and dedicated Afghan Air Corps and coalition personnel working together to get the mission done."