{"id":64996,"date":"2019-01-31T18:51:21","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T18:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/31\/afghanistans-new-black-hawks-have-some-issues-would-adding-chinooks-help-fill-a-capabilities-gap\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:03:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:03:38","slug":"afghanistans-new-black-hawks-have-some-issues-would-adding-chinooks-help-fill-a-capabilities-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/01\/31\/afghanistans-new-black-hawks-have-some-issues-would-adding-chinooks-help-fill-a-capabilities-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan\u2019s new Black Hawks have some issues. Would adding Chinooks help fill a capabilities gap?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. has been transitioning Afghanistan\u2019s air force<\/a> from a fleet of Soviet-era Mi-17 helicopters to the U.S.-made UH-60 Black Hawks<\/a> since 2017, but recruiting, training and sustainment challenges plague the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Black Hawk shipments are part of the Afghan Air Force\u2019s modernization<\/a> initiative. The first 16 of 159 UH-60 helicopters have already been delivered. When complete, 119 of the Black Hawks will go to the Afghan Air Force, while the other 40 will go to the elite reconnaissance and extraction pilots of Special Mission Wing, at an estimated cost of $5.75 billion to $7 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the Black Hawks’ current delivery schedule, however, it remains unlikely that there will be enough pilots trained before all the aircraft are received. And even if the training and fielding of pilots picks up, the Pentagon has no training course to teach Afghans how to maintain Black Hawks on their own, rather than rely on American contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These findings were issued in a performance audit by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But despite the difficulties of executing such an ambitious modernization program in a country where literacy rates are still among the lowest in the world, the Black Hawks will be a valuable asset, an Afghan pilot who asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe general feelings towards Black Hawks is very positive in [the Afghan Air Force] and [Special Mission Wing], and that is because we all know that Mi-17 are not sustainable in the long run,\u201d the pilot said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only concern that [Afghan pilots] have is to [receive] CH-47 Chinook helicopters along with Black Hawks,\u201d he said, adding that the additional Chinooks would help close the gap left by Mi-17s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If, for example, the Afghan Air Force received two Chinooks per Kandak, or battalion, that could add additional lift capacity that Mi-17s currently have and ease concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\t