The US military wants to replace Afghanistan’s well-worn fleet of Russian helicopters with American-made aircraft, according to a new budget proposal, a decision aimed at reducing the Afghan air force’s decades-long reliance on Russian equipment.The Afghan air force, trained and assisted by Nato advisers, has slowly gained strength, but remains too small to meet the needs of security forces struggling to combat a stubborn Taliban insurgency.Now the US Defence Department is requesting funding to refurbish and update 53 older-model US military UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for the Afghans, enough to replace the current fleet of Russian-designed Mi-17 helicopters.Donald Trump’s victory …read more
Source: Gulf times
