When I was in the Marine Corp Air Wing, we were constantly doing preventive maintenance on the equipment and as a result we had equipment even from the Vietnam War era in very serviceable condition. The upkeep (and training) is constant in an efficient military.
The Taliban flying it did real good, considering he could not read, write or count.
“I’m sure that maintenance and training comes into play here.”
Undoubtedly. I am firmly a fixed wing guy, but work a lot with rotary people. I think it’s something like 8 hours maintenance for every hour flight time for essentially any helicopter.
Probably 1/3 to 1/2 that much maintenance for even the most advanced fighters, excepting some of the exotic stealth stuff.