Posted on 08/25/2021 10:40:45 AM PDT by USA Conservative
Americans who trained Afghan pilots and ground crews are now raising the alarm about their safety. Though some flew out of the country, others are still in Afghanistan, hiding from the Taliban. And they are desperate to get out, fearing the Taliban may learn their identities and retaliate.
As videos emerged of Taliban fighters carrying US-made M4 and M18 assault rifles and M24 sniper weapons, the US conceded it does not have the “complete picture” while adding that “a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban”.
“Obviously, we don’t have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us,” Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor said.
Taliban fighters were seen reportedly climbing on American Black Hawk helicopters as the Afghan troops were pushed back from major areas in Afghanistan.
Video below:
Now a video surfaced where the Taliban tried to fly the Black Hawk helicopters or should I say drive them!
Video below:
Reporters are claiming they are able to fly them but the video doesn’t give enough confidence.
I would say hell no, they are running a Blackhawk down a taxi way. That is not flying.
That is like saying you are dating someone because you sat next to them on the Metro.
The U.S. provided an estimated $83 billion worth of training and equipment to Afghan security forces since 2001. This year, alone, the U.S. military aid to Afghan forces was $3 billion.
Putting price tags on American military equipment still in Afghanistan isn’t an easy task. In the fog of war – or withdrawal – Afghanistan has always been a black box with little sunshine.
This month, the Taliban seized Black Hawk helicopters and A-29 Super Tucano attack aircraft. As late as last month, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense posted photos on social media of seven newly arrived helicopters from the U.S., Reuters reported.
Black Hawk helicopters can cost up to $21 million. In 2013, the U.S. placed an order for 20 A-29 Super Tucano attack aircraft for $427 million – that’s $21.3 million for each plane. Other specialized helicopters can cost up to $37 million each.
The Afghan air force contracted for C-208 light attack airplanes in March 2018: seven planes for $84.6 million, or $12.1 million each. The airplanes are very sophisticated and carry HELLFIRE missiles, anti-tank missiles and other weaponry.
Don’t worry, a Chinese instructor will teach them how to fly one properly.
And here we are, almost at the 20th anniversary of 9/11. This is beyond belief.
Its criminal that we left all this ‘stuff’ there. Billions of our tax dollars.
The only thing good about this is that they will kill themselves trying to fly them.
They may not have the knowledge or skill set to fly and repair these vehicles but the Chinese and Russians do and that’s a bigger concern.
They aren’t going to fly them. They’re going to sell them. They’ll keep some to see if they can get a Chinese or Russian consultant - or even a treasonous US scumbag - to train them.
“Where’s the Upinator on this thing?”
There are regimes that will provide what they need, IMHO.
How many maintenance hours did they just burn in that taxi?
M 18s?
I seriously doubt the Russians or Chinese are interested in UH-60A’s which is our oldest version and we don’t even use them anymore. The MH-300’s are not cutting edge either and commercial versions of the same helicopter are available.
No, just the choppers. That’s what the thread is about.
“I’m surprised they knew how to fire up the engines.”
Yeah, that had to be a person somewhat familiar with jet turbine operation. Not necessarily a pilot.
I do believe the Taliban’s main benefactors, the Russians and the Chinese, will be more than happy to supply the maintenance and technical help needed.
A similar issue happened in Iran after Carter lost that country. The Shah had our jets but Iran failed to maintain them.
Live Stim, Dead Stim.
We’ve got a new maintenance contract. One small catch it’s in.... Yeah I suppose there are a few insane who would go there now given the current insanity level of this world.
The taliban would most likely threaten to kill a specific group of people unless we helped supply the necessary intelligence to fly these weapons.
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