Afghanistan to receive PC-12 SIGINT aircraft

The Afghan National Army Special Operations Forces is to receive five Pilatus PC-12 SIGINT aircraft.
The contract awarded to Sierra Nevada Corporation by the US Department of Defense, is a modification to a 2012 contract for 18 "uniquely modified" PC-12/47E turboprops for the Afghan Army .
The contract for initial 18 aircraft is due to be completed in July. The new contract should see the five SIGINT aircraft in Afghanistan by the end of the year.
janes

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.

India to deliver two Cheetah helicopters to Afghanistan

According to reports, India will deliver two helicopters to Afghan security forces next month, as part of its support to reconstruct the Afghan national security forces.
Manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the Cheetah choppers would be used for reconnaissance purposes.
India is also considering to send its military trainers to the newly opened Afghan National Army Officers Academy apart from deploying technicians to run an old military hardware maintenance facility in the country.
New Delhi is also studying the fresh proposal from president Haid Karzai’s administration to provide lethal weapons to Afghan security forces.
Currently India is providing training to 350 Afghan army officers, and around 1,400 Afghan National Army officers were trained in Indian institutions since 2003.
khaama

Russia Delivers 12 Helos for Afghan Army

Russia’s military export organization Rosoboronexport said Nov. 1 that it had completed deliveries to the US government of 12 transport helicopters destined for the Afghan National Army.
Deliveries were completed last month. The 12 Mi-17V-5s were ordered in 2012.
That deal involved the purchase by the US of 21 Mi-17s to bolster Afghan military transport capabilities in the run-up to the withdrawal of NATO combat forces by the end of next year.
The US Congress tried to block the purchase of helicopters from Rosoboronexport due to Russia’s continuing supply of military equipment to Syria.
defensenews

Despite Gains, Leader of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan Says Troops Must Stay

Afghan forces are now leading the fight here. They managed an air assault last week, for example, and they may be winning the respect of the Afghan people. But the bottom line for Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. is simple: Afghanistan still needs the United States and will for years to come.
nytimes

New Push to Block Purchases of Russian Helicopters

With a bipartisan group of lawmakers beginning a new push to block the Pentagon from buying Russian helicopters for the Afghan army, a new report from a human-rights organization has called on Congress to force the Defense Department to cancel its orders.
washwire

Pentagon to Keep Buying Russian Helicopters for Afghanistan

The Pentagon has decided it’s in the national interest to keep buying MI-17 transport helicopters for the Afghan military from a Russian company.
The Defense Department “has an urgent, near-term need to purchase an additional 30 new military-use MI-17 helicopters” to equip Afghanistan’s counter-terrorism forces.

businessweek

Afghan troops attack Spanish soldiers on New Year's Eve

Two Afghan soldiers opened fire on Spanish and Afghan troops patrolling in the western Afghan province of Herat last night. The insider (or 'green-on-blue') attack, in which Afghan security forces strike at Coalition allies, is the last such incident recorded in 2012.

The two Afghan soldiers attacked the Spanish troops last night as they patrolled in the Karkh district in Herat, according to Khaama Press. No Spanish or Afghan soldiers were hurt.

The International Security Assistance Force confirmed that the attack took place, and said an investigation had been launched to determine whether the attack was carried out by Afghan troops. An Afghan security official told Khaama Press that the two soldiers were members of the Afghan National Army.

A top Taliban spokesman claimed that the Afghan soldiers, who were from Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, were operating under Taliban orders, the Afghanistan Times reported. The two Afghan soldiers escaped to the Taliban after the attack. The Taliban, who routinely exaggerate casualties caused by their operations, also claimed that four Spanish soldiers were killed in the attack.

longwarjournal

Afghan National Army Special Operations Forces to get 18 modified PC-12s

On Oct. 16, Sierra Nevada was awarded a $218 million contract to modify 18 PC-12s for the Afghan National Army Special Operations Forces.

defense.gov