Russia delivers final Mi-17 US-bought transport helicopter to Afghan army

Russia has delivered the last of 63 Mil Mi-17 transport helicopter purchased by the US Defense Department on behalf of the Afghan National Army.
The US Defense Department signed a contract in 2011 with Rosoboronexport,for the Mil Mi-17 helicopters.
Delivery of the aircraft continued through a volatile period in US-Russian relations. The deal was assailed in the US Congress because of Russia’s support of the Bashar Assad regime in the Syrian civil war and Russia's annexation of Crimea following political unrest in Ukraine.
The United States already has paid for the Afghan army to receive another 82 aircraft in the ongoing effort to train and equip the force prior to the planned US withdrawal that has been pushed from 2014 into the following year.
Embraer in September delivered the first of 20 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft under the light air support (LAS) programme designed to provide US allies with an anti-insurgency fighter. The contract is for 20 aircraft that will first deliver to the USAF and then to Afghan security forces once a cadre of pilots is trained on US soil.
The United States also has paid for 62 MD Helicopters MD-530 civilian aircraft.