More Russian-built Mi-17 Hips and a number of smaller American-made MD 530F Little Birds that had belonged to the Afghan Air Force have been airlifted to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
There is immense pressure to keep ex-Afghan Air Force aircraft out of the hands of the Taliban.
Ex-Afghan Air Force personnel who escaped Afghanistan as the Taliban took control had found themselves virtual captives in Tajikistan.
Questions remain about the exact state of the aircraft and other materiel left behind, but the optics are still embarrassing for the United States.
Afghan pilots fled the country in the face of the advancing Taliban over the weekend. Now the fate of the aircraft is up in the air.
The pilot used the weapon to avoid civilian casualties, but the NATO-led coalition continues to downplay the importance of this capability.
Cessna’s new design could replace existing types currently being flown by American special operators and by many others air arms around the globe.
The service says it somehow still needs more information, despite a decade of studies, evaluations, and other experiments with the concept.
A new report highlights incoherent and haphazard policies, long-standing training gaps, and an over-reliance on contractors.
