asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
53 black hawks for Afghanistan? Good start but not enough
They need 153
They need 153
Afghanistan Military & News
- Thread starter SouthernSky
- Start date
No, they need a political solution to the main conflicts.The US expressed purpose is now: kill Taliban. So US send equipment that need US boots on the ground, mostly mercenaries rather official armed forces, to prevent neighbouring countries, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, China, assist in reaching a compromise that will allow these countries to help develop the Afghan economy.
Some suspect, I read, that US will allow IS to grow in Afghanistan by fighting Taliban.
timepass
Brigadier
Afghan Air Force to Get More A-29 Super Tucanos...
An Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano A-29 experimental aircraft flies over White Sands Missile Range on Aug. 1, 2017. Ethan D. Wagner/Air Force
The U.S. Air Force has put in a new order with Sierra Nevada Corp. and Embraer to produce six new A-29 Super Tucano aircraft for the Afghan air force’s fleet, the companies announced Wednesday.
“We believe this decision demonstrates that the A-29 Super Tucano is the best aircraft for close air support operations, as well as the most proven, reliable and cost-effective solution for counterinsurgency and irregular warfare scenarios,” said Jackson Schneider, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security.
“We are honored to continue to support the U.S. government in this critical mission,” Schneider said in a release.
A U.S.-funded $427 million contract calls for a total of 20 turboprop A-29s to be delivered to Afghanistan by 2018.
Without disclosing a fixed price, officials said production of these six new aircraft is scheduled to start “immediately in Jacksonville, Florida, and brings to 26 the total number of aircraft provided to the program,” the release said.
“There is no other aircraft like the A-29 in its ability to provide flight training, light attack, and combat pilot seasoning,” said Taco Gilbert, senior vice president for SNC’s ISR business area and a retired Air Force brigadier general. “Its continued demand demonstrates its value to air forces the world over.”
Last April, A-29s manned by Afghan pilots trained in the U.S. conducted their first close-air support missions in fixed-wing aircraft in Afghanistan.
Four of the A-29s arrived in Afghanistan in January 2016 and another four previously flew into a military airfield near Hamid Karzai International Airport outside Kabul, according to Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, then the deputy chief of staff for communications for the U.S. and NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
“They are beginning to take their first strikes,” guided to targets by Afghan forward air controllers on the ground, Cleveland said at the time.
The four A-29s were delivered one month after the first Afghan pilots and crew for the attack plane completed training at .
The program, which began in 2015, will ultimately train 30 pilots and 90 maintainers through 2018 at the base, .
The U.S. military services have an ongoing train, advise and assist mission in Afghanistan. The Afghans have been using A-29s for close-air attack, air interdiction, escort and armed reconnaissance.
Meanwhile, the Super Tucano is active or has been selected by 13 air forces worldwide for close-air support missions.
The A-29 is also an aircraft being considered by the U.S. Air Force.
The Air Force in August conducted a “light attack experiment” at , New Mexico, in which four aircraft — ; Sierra Nevada and Embraer’s ; and Textron and AirLand LLC’s Scorpion, as well as their AT-6B Wolverine — conducted live-fly exercises, combat maneuver scenarios and, on some occasions, weapons drops.
The service could bring in a new turboprop aircraft — — if it sees value.
OA-X “is actually not about the hardware — it’s about the network,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein during a recent interview with Military.com
He wants the Air Force to train more often with coalition partners — who may not have high-end fighter aircraft. Goldfein, who served as the U.S. Air Forces Central Command commander between 2011 and 2013, said, “Is this a way to get more coalition partners into a network to counter violence?”
“Can I at the same that we’re looking at a relatively inexpensive aircraft and sensor package, can I connect that into a network of sharable information that allows us to better accomplish the strategy as its been laid out?” he said.
An Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano A-29 experimental aircraft flies over White Sands Missile Range on Aug. 1, 2017. Ethan D. Wagner/Air Force
The U.S. Air Force has put in a new order with Sierra Nevada Corp. and Embraer to produce six new A-29 Super Tucano aircraft for the Afghan air force’s fleet, the companies announced Wednesday.
“We believe this decision demonstrates that the A-29 Super Tucano is the best aircraft for close air support operations, as well as the most proven, reliable and cost-effective solution for counterinsurgency and irregular warfare scenarios,” said Jackson Schneider, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security.
“We are honored to continue to support the U.S. government in this critical mission,” Schneider said in a release.
A U.S.-funded $427 million contract calls for a total of 20 turboprop A-29s to be delivered to Afghanistan by 2018.
Without disclosing a fixed price, officials said production of these six new aircraft is scheduled to start “immediately in Jacksonville, Florida, and brings to 26 the total number of aircraft provided to the program,” the release said.
“There is no other aircraft like the A-29 in its ability to provide flight training, light attack, and combat pilot seasoning,” said Taco Gilbert, senior vice president for SNC’s ISR business area and a retired Air Force brigadier general. “Its continued demand demonstrates its value to air forces the world over.”
Last April, A-29s manned by Afghan pilots trained in the U.S. conducted their first close-air support missions in fixed-wing aircraft in Afghanistan.
Four of the A-29s arrived in Afghanistan in January 2016 and another four previously flew into a military airfield near Hamid Karzai International Airport outside Kabul, according to Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, then the deputy chief of staff for communications for the U.S. and NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
“They are beginning to take their first strikes,” guided to targets by Afghan forward air controllers on the ground, Cleveland said at the time.
The four A-29s were delivered one month after the first Afghan pilots and crew for the attack plane completed training at .
The program, which began in 2015, will ultimately train 30 pilots and 90 maintainers through 2018 at the base, .
The U.S. military services have an ongoing train, advise and assist mission in Afghanistan. The Afghans have been using A-29s for close-air attack, air interdiction, escort and armed reconnaissance.
Meanwhile, the Super Tucano is active or has been selected by 13 air forces worldwide for close-air support missions.
The A-29 is also an aircraft being considered by the U.S. Air Force.
The Air Force in August conducted a “light attack experiment” at , New Mexico, in which four aircraft — ; Sierra Nevada and Embraer’s ; and Textron and AirLand LLC’s Scorpion, as well as their AT-6B Wolverine — conducted live-fly exercises, combat maneuver scenarios and, on some occasions, weapons drops.
The service could bring in a new turboprop aircraft — — if it sees value.
OA-X “is actually not about the hardware — it’s about the network,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein during a recent interview with Military.com
He wants the Air Force to train more often with coalition partners — who may not have high-end fighter aircraft. Goldfein, who served as the U.S. Air Forces Central Command commander between 2011 and 2013, said, “Is this a way to get more coalition partners into a network to counter violence?”
“Can I at the same that we’re looking at a relatively inexpensive aircraft and sensor package, can I connect that into a network of sharable information that allows us to better accomplish the strategy as its been laid out?” he said.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
And not just those
Caravan has been used by the Iraqi air force, The AC 208 Eliminator
The Baseline C208 is a 2 man 9 passenger puddle jumper/Utility aircraft. AC208 adds weapons and sensors mounts 2 hardpoints and can be used for (ISTAR) Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. by contrast the A29 has 5 weapons hardpoints. basically A29 are the Wolves AC208 are the pack leaders.
timepass
Brigadier
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Afghan army will be unable to operate even for six months without US support, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said.
"We will not be able to support our army for six months without US support, and US capabilities … Because we don't have the money," Ghani told CBS News on Sunday, when asked whether the Afghan government would collapse if the left the country.
The Afghan president noted that 21 terrorist organizations were operating in his country.
is currently suffering from an unstable political, social and security issues due to the activity of the Taliban terrorist group and the Islamic State terrorist organization, both outlawed in Russia.
"We will not be able to support our army for six months without US support, and US capabilities … Because we don't have the money," Ghani told CBS News on Sunday, when asked whether the Afghan government would collapse if the left the country.
The Afghan president noted that 21 terrorist organizations were operating in his country.
is currently suffering from an unstable political, social and security issues due to the activity of the Taliban terrorist group and the Islamic State terrorist organization, both outlawed in Russia.
timepass
Brigadier
Taliban roaming in Afghanistan and having public gatherings....
So where are the Afghan or US forces or US drone ?
This is called REAL Safe Havens and public support which they enjoy inside Afghanistan and they don't need to cross the border for these.
So who needs to do more ?
So where are the Afghan or US forces or US drone ?
This is called REAL Safe Havens and public support which they enjoy inside Afghanistan and they don't need to cross the border for these.
So who needs to do more ?
Dizasta1
Senior Member
Taliban are in essence, Pukhtun. They are natives of Afghanistan and thus far have shown their resilience to oppose foreign occupiers.
As a Pukhtun myself, the one fundamental aspect that the Taliban MUST change about themselves (in my view), is publicly denounce and sever any and all (alleged) links to Al-Qaeda. Because the bottom line is that AQ are also foreigners and they are evil incarnate.
The louder the declaration of denouncing Al-Qaeda, they (Taliban) will witness an overwhelming and gargantuan support by Muslims around the world for them. AQ and ISIS are the venomous snakes that all Muslims around the world MUST confront, defeat and destroy ... unconditionally and with extreme prejudice.
At present Taliban has fought and defeated ISIS in several battles. This is a step in the right direction, ISIS are foreigners, scumbags who have NOTHING to do with Islam. Al-Qaeda are the same scum from the same shithole Wahhabism-Salafi'ism.
No Afghan supports terrorism, but no Afghan or Muslim should ever tolerate foreigners in their lands. We establish peace in our lands and ensure we progress our countries economically, in education and socially.
As a Pukhtun myself, the one fundamental aspect that the Taliban MUST change about themselves (in my view), is publicly denounce and sever any and all (alleged) links to Al-Qaeda. Because the bottom line is that AQ are also foreigners and they are evil incarnate.
The louder the declaration of denouncing Al-Qaeda, they (Taliban) will witness an overwhelming and gargantuan support by Muslims around the world for them. AQ and ISIS are the venomous snakes that all Muslims around the world MUST confront, defeat and destroy ... unconditionally and with extreme prejudice.
At present Taliban has fought and defeated ISIS in several battles. This is a step in the right direction, ISIS are foreigners, scumbags who have NOTHING to do with Islam. Al-Qaeda are the same scum from the same shithole Wahhabism-Salafi'ism.
No Afghan supports terrorism, but no Afghan or Muslim should ever tolerate foreigners in their lands. We establish peace in our lands and ensure we progress our countries economically, in education and socially.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
I shouldn't even need to post this.
US Rejects Accusations It Gave Rise to IS in Afghanistan
January 18, 2018 1:04 PM
- Ayaz Gul
FILE - Security forces inspect the site of an Islamic State-claimed attack on a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 8, 2017.
ISLAMABAD —
The United States reiterated its resolve Thursday to help local forces eliminate Islamic State from Afghanistan and strongly refuted accusations Washington was behind the emergence of the terrorist group in the war-shattered country.
The remarks by the U.S. ambassador to Kabul, John Bass, are the first formal reaction to the repeated accusations in recent months by some Afghans, including former President Hamid Karzai, along with Russia, that U.S. troops are aiding IS militants in Afghanistan.
"Let me take this opportunity, since these rumors continue to circulate, to emphatically state that the United States has not brought Daesh to Afghanistan. The United States has not ever supported Daesh, its creation, its horrible attacks in any form, or fashion," said Bass, while addressing his first news conference in Kabul.
Daesh is the Arabic acronym for IS.
In a series of interviews to media groups, including VOA, late last year, Karzai called IS a "tool" of the U.S. The former Afghan president repeated his allegations Thursday in India, saying it was up to the United States to explain the rise of Daesh and extremism in his country.
"Some of Afghanistan's problems are foreign. Extremism is the product of U.S.-Pakistan cooperation, and Afghanistan has to face implications. The U.S. must explain," Karzai said in New Delhi while taking part in a geopolitical conference known as the Raisina Dialogue.
U.S. Ambassador Bass said there was "absolutely no way" to work out peace or reconciliation with Daesh in Afghanistan.
"The only way to deal with Daesh is through sustained determined efforts on the battlefield to either kill them or capture them and to remove them to prevent them from being able to conduct attacks," said Bass.
The U.S. ambassador said that was the approach the U.S. and other coalition members undertook in Iraq and Syria in partnership with the Iraqi government and with Syrian groups that were committed to defending their part of Syria.
IS operates in Afghanistan under the name Khorasan Province. The terrorist group launched its operations in early 2015 from eastern volatile Afghan regions, mainly Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan.
Since then, the group has extended its activities to other parts of the country, including northern Afghan provinces bordering central Asian states, which is raising alarms in Russia.
IS has claimed responsibility for some of the recent deadly suicide bombings in Afghanistan, particularly in the capital, Kabul.
The violence has left scores of Afghans dead, mostly members of the minority Shi'ite community. U.S. military commanders say former members of the Pakistani Taliban comprise a majority of IS fighters in Afghanistan.
Pakistan alleges IS bases in Afghan border also are behind terrorist attacks against the country. Afghan officials deny the allegations and say IS militants receive support from Pakistan.
Report: China Building Military Base on Afghan-Tajik Border
Jan 7, 2018
A Chinese truck stop in Murghab, near Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan and China. China is reportedly building a new military base in Afghanistan, in which case this road could see more Chinese military traffic. (photo: The Bug Pit)
China is building a military base for the Afghan armed forces in the province of Badakhshan, a senior Afghan military official has said. The plan, if it is realized, promises a deeper Chinese military involvement in Tajikistan, which is necessary as a supply corridor to Badakhshan.
The plans for the new base were worked out during a visit last month by an Afghan defense , the official, General Dawlat Waziri, the news site Fergana News.
At that meeting, the two sides their intention to “deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields including anti-terrorism operations, and push forward the state and military relations between the two countries.”
China will supply everything the base needs, Waziri said, including "weapons, uniforms for soldiers, military equiment and everything else needed for its [the base's] functioning," Fergana reported.
This is the latest move in Beijing's steadily increasing involvement in security issues on its western border.
"China worries that Chinese Uighurs among the terrorists' ranks can cross into Chinese territory through Afghanistan and become a headache for the Chinese authorities," one Afghan security official told Fergana on condition of anonymity.
For Central Asia, this has important implications because Tajijkistan appears to be an integral part of Chinese-Afghan military cooperation. Badakhshan shares a short () border with China, but in a region impassable by vehicles.
Badakhshan is most easily reached from China via Tajikistan's Pamir region, and some media have that Chinese military vehicles were using Tajikistan territory to transit to Badakhshan for military patrols. (A western diplomat in Central Asia has told The Bug Pit that those reports were credible.)
China, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan (which also borders Badakhstan) are all members of a new Beijing-led security grouping, the Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism, , to Russia's . Also in 2016, China and Tajikistan held their in the part of Tajikistan bordering on Badakhshan.
A Chinese official, speaking on condition of anonymity, Kabul-based analyst Franz J. Marty a year ago that the Chinese patrols inside Afghanistan had ended in late 2016.
It's not clear whether those patrols were ever restarted, but this base, if realized, would seem to portend much heavier traffic in the future.
The Fergana report said, citing an unnamed source in the Afghanistan Defense Ministry, that work has already begun on the base's planning. A special commission has been created to work out the base's location and other technical details, and a delegation of Chinese military experts were going to be visiting Afghanistan in the coming days to work on that, Fergana reported