But far fewer Afghan crews had been trained to maintain the aircraft. The US had shifted to providing Black Hawks to Afghanistan in recent years, in part because of restrictions on working with Russian weapons manufacturers and exporters of the Mi-17.
But there are no signs yet that the Taliban are deploying the helicopters in combat operations.Īn Afghan air force Mi-17 helicopter pilot prepares to depart Kabul International airport in November 2014.
Videos had surfaced of Taliban fighters flying in an Mi-17 earlier this month. How many of those helicopters are now in flying condition is unclear, as the US drawdown of its armed forces and the Taliban onslaught have taken their toll on the Afghan air force’s readiness. The Mi-17 is the export version of Russia’s Mi-8 helicopter, which is manufactured at two plants in Kazan and Ulan-Ude in Russia. A July report from the US special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (Sigar) said that the Afghan military had 56 Mi-17 helicopters, of which just 32 were usable and in the country. Mikheev’s estimate for the number of Russian-made helicopters in Afghanistan is significantly higher than the reported inventory. “Of course, this fleet requires repair, maintenance and spare parts supply.” A large portion of the fleet could already be grounded, he said. “The helicopter fleet there is large – more than 100 Mi-17 helicopters of various types,” said Alexander Mikheev, the head of the Russian state exporter Rosoboronexporter, according to the Interfax news agency. The Taliban have captured more than 100 Russian-made helicopters in various states of operability, the head of a Russian state arms exporter has said, but will be largely unable to use them with little access to maintenance crews and spare parts.Īs the Taliban overran the Afghan army and took control of large stores of arms and vehicles, it also captured at least 100 Mi-17 Hip helicopters, a Russian-made transport aircraft procured by the US for the Afghan armed forces because it was comparatively cheaper and easier to fly than US-made UH-60 Black Hawks.
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