The US Department of Defense approved a plan released on December 2019 entitled Enhancing Security and Stability in Afghanistan. Among other things, the plan allocates aircraft to be supplied to Afghan forces over the next several years. There were some changes in the current report from earlier commitments, specifically with the reduction of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and the addition of Chinook helicopters.
Originally the US military had pledged to provide Afghan forces 159 Black Hawks, but in the recent report, that number is now 53.
According to the report, the US military also cut the number of armed fixed-wing AC-208 attack and reconnaissance aircraft from 32 down to 10. AC-208 Eliminator gunships — which made their debut in Kabul in February 2019 —are armed with the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, or APKWS rockets.
“These reductions were made on the basis of a review of future operational requirements,” the report reads.
On the other hand, the report also mentioned that an unspecified number of CH-47 Chinooks would be added to the Afghan force, specifically to aid the Afghan Special Mission Wing (SMW) and to fully replace its Mi-17 fleet by the end of 2023. UH-60 Black Hawks were also intended to release the Mi-17, according to the report.
However, the report noted that “SMW misuse” remains a concern, defining misuse as: “Tasking the SMW to conduct operations…tasked from influential figures outside of the established tasking process.”
“The war is a guerrilla war, if there is a powerful helicopter unit where there would be 40 to 44 helicopters, believe me, it will cover all of Afghanistan,” said military analyst Atiqullah Amarkhel.
“We will have US-made aircraft very soon, there is work going on for this purpose,” said Assadullah Khalid, the acting Minister of Defense.
