Afghan Air Force capability after withdrawal US troops
The US military is looking at new ways to train Afghan forces and for contractors to continue to work on Afghan Air Force aircraft following the full withdrawal of American troops this year.
According to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mark A. Milley, during a briefing at the Pentagon on 6 May 2021; "the ability of the Afghan Air Force (AAF) to continue supporting ground operations against the Taliban is important to ensure the country is not overrun after American and coalition troops leave".
The Pentagon is working on its plans to support the Afghan military going forward in addition to its plans for “over-the-horizon” counterterrorism missions and logistics after the withdrawal. "Maintaining logistic support to the AAF is a key task that we have to sort out, doing it over the horizon, but also in country,” Milley said. “It could be done by contractors. A lot of that’s going to be dependent on the security conditions on the ground, but the intent is to keep the AAF in the air and to provide them with continued maintenance.”
Although the US confirms that the AAF does 80 to 90 percent off all airstrikes in support of the Afghan ground forces, it is an open secret that the AAF relies heavily on support and maintenance of the US military and contractors.
The drawdown, as announced by President Joe Biden on 14 April 2021 covers US and coalition military personnel along with contractors. The contractors do have the ability to renegotiate their contracts, which could enable some to stay in the country.
In the meantime, the US sends more firepower to Middle East as troops withdraw from Afghanistan. This week, two more USAF B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers arrived at Al Udeid Air Base (Qatar), bringing the total number of B-52Hs on standby to respond to a Taliban attack to six. The Pentagon also extended the deployment of a US Navy carrier strike group in the region and deployed a dozen F-18 Hornet fighters to provide additional support.
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