Afghan air force opens $22 million hangar

An officer of the Afghan National Army looks at a refurbished Mi-17 helicopter during a ceremony to open a new $22 million, U.S.-funded military hangar in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Jan. 17. Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the new hangar and aircraft the "birth of our air force."


Afghan air force opens $22 million hangar
By Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jan 18, 2008 17:38:27 EST

KABUL, Afghanistan — Calling it the “birth of our air force,” Afghan President Hamid Karzai opened a new $22 million U.S.-funded military hangar on Thursday to house a fleet that is expected to triple in the next three years.

Standing in the cavernous hangar opposite Kabul’s international airport, Karzai thanked the U.S. for helping to buy six refurbished Mi-17 transport helicopters and six refurbished Mi-35 helicopter gunships from the Czech Republic, as well as four An-32 transport planes from Ukraine.

The newly acquired aircraft will help the Afghan air force transport Afghan troops — who are taking on an increasing role in the battle against the Taliban — on missions around the country.

Afghanistan once had a strong air force that included hundreds of helicopters and Soviet-built MiG-21 and Su-22 warplanes. But that fleet was devastated by two decades of war.

“Today is again the birth of our air force,” Karzai told a crowd of U.S. and Afghan military personnel. “We should strengthen this air force because it’s very necessary for the Afghan government to have it.”


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_afghan_airforce_080118/