Super Tucano's voor de Afghaanse luchtmacht

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Afghan A-29s conduct strikes in northeastern province of Badakhshan

Franz J Marty, Kabul - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly | 18 April 2016


An A-29 of the Afghanistan Air Force seen at Kabul military airport on 23 February 2016. Source: Franz J Marty

A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft of the Afghan Air Force (AAF) conducted airstrikes against insurgent targets in the northeastern province of Badakhshan on 15 April, multiple sources confirmed to IHS Jane's . These marked the first confirmed combat sorties of the aircraft in Afghanistan.

Foreign sources in Kabul stated that the AAF's A-29s conducted combat sorties in Badakhshan and an officer of the Afghan National Army (ANA) deployed to Badakhshan told IHS Jane's that three airstrikes were conducted in the Khostak valley in the district of Jurm, one of the main insurgency strongholds in the region. According to the officer, these were night operations launched from Kabul that targeted and killed three insurgent commanders: two locals as well as one commander who was reportedly a national of Tajikistan. The officer added that the strike against the Tajik commander killed the whole family, in total 12 persons.

Speaking to IHS Jane's , a diplomatic source familiar with air force matters clarified that the A-29s successfully hit the targets, designated by co-ordinates provided by unspecified intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, with bombs.

Currently, eight A-29s are fielded with the AAF, with the first four having arrived in January and an additional four on 29 March. These airframes are the first of a total of 20 that the United States is incrementally providing to the AAF. Another four are scheduled to be delivered by the 2017 fighting season, while the remaining eight are scheduled to arrive in 2018.

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http://www.janes.com/article/59586/afghan-a-29s-conduct-strikes-in-northeastern-province-of-badakhshan
A fighter without a gun . . . is like an airplane without a wing.

-- Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.

Oorlogsvis

The Afghan Air Force has criticized their newly acquired American-made MD 530F helicopters after one of them was destroyed in an accident in September 2015. According to a report by the New York Times, the accident happened after a tailwind tipped the helicopter over the edge of a mountain it landed on.

Afghanistan's most decorated pilot, Colonel Qalandar Shah Qalandari, recently questioned the usefulness of a new fleet of American-made light attack helicopter gunships, cited by the New York Times.

Among other things, Colonel Qalandari said that the new helicopters cannot reach areas where Taliban insurgents are normally operating, since the helicopter cannot cross the mountain ranges that surround Kabul, and that the aircraft is also dangerous to operate.

"It's unsafe to fly, the engine is too weak, the tail rotor is defective and it's not armored. If we go down after the enemy we're going to have enemy return fire, which we can't survive. If we go up higher, we can't visually target the enemy," he noted. "Even the guns are no good."

The helicopter gunships in question are the MD-530 F "Cayuse Warrior" light attack helicopters, some of which were recently involved in a combat mission south of Jalalabad. One pilot talking to the New York Times, however, noted that the helicopters lack gun sights for its two .50 caliber machine guns, making targeting very difficult.

"This helicopter is a total mess," Qalandari said. "To be honest, I don't know why we have it here." One MD-530F recently crashed east of Kabul. "When my pilots fly in this, only God and I know what they're going through," the colonel told the New York Times. "And I don't know whether they'll make it back."

2016 Flight season

While the Taliban forces officially launched their annual spring offensive this week with large-scale attacks, the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) will, for the first time in 15 years, be able to deploy a light attack aircraft specifically designed for counterinsurgency operations in their fight against the insurgents.

Afghanistan has so far received 18 MD 530 helicopters since December 2011. One helicopter was lost after it landed on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in September 2013. The Afghan Air Force (AAF) is converting five unarmed MH-6 "Little Bird" aircraft into "Cayuse Warrior" light attack gunships bringing up the AAF light attack helicopter fleet to 16. The five MD 530F will be retrofitted with a so-called Enhanced Mission Equipment Package (EMEP) at a facility in the United States and return to Afghanistan for the 2016 fighting season.

The Afghan Air Force (AAF) will begin this year's fighting season with eight new Embraer/Sierra Nevada Corporation A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft in its arsenal. The first four A-29 aircraft arrived at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on January 15th. Four more aircrafts were delivered in 2016.

No additional aircraft deliveries are expected this year. Four more A-29 Tucanos are expected in 2017 and the remaining eight will be handed over to the AAF by the end of 2018, bringing up the total number of A-29 Super Tucanos to 20.


Bron @Southfronteng

Oorlogsvis

Bron : Southfront

IVD: Onderzeeërs onmisbaar
3 uur geleden
DEN HAAG - Zonder onderzeeërs wordt Nederland voor het verzamelen van inlichtingen te afhankelijk van andere landen. Dat zei Pieter Bindt, directeur van de Militaire Inlichtingen en Veiligheidsdienst (MIVD), woensdag in de Tweede Kamer.

De politiek liet zich daar informeren over de opties voor de vervanging van de huidige onderzeeboten van de Walrusklasse, die in 2025 aan het eind van hun levensduur zijn. Defensie wil graag minstens vier nieuwe onderzeeërs en heeft daar in de meerjarenbegroting 2,5 miljard euro voor in de boeken staan. Het besluit tot aanschaf is aan een volgend kabinet.

Met onderzeeërs heeft de Nederlandse krijgsmacht 'iets unieks wat we met andere middelen niet kunnen', zei Bindt. ,,Zonder onderzeeërs zouden we volledig afhankelijk zijn van anderen. In een ideale wereld zou je dan informatie van je vrienden krijgen. Maar in mijn wereld is dat niet altijd het geval." Als bij bepaalde crises gebieden ontoegankelijk zijn voor luchteenheden of fregatten, kunnen onderzeeërs nog altijd opereren, zei Bindt.

Afschrikking
Behalve voor inlichtingen zijn onderzeeërs ook bedoeld om handelsvloten te beschermen, om speciale eenheden aan land te zetten, ter afschrikking en vanwege de militaire slagkracht. ,,Met één torpedo kunnen we een vijandelijk vliegdekschip laten zinken", benadrukte generaal-majoor Schevenhoven.

Defensie zal voor het ontwerp en de bouw van nieuwe onderzeeërs moeten samenwerken met bondgenoten. Noorwegen of Zweden liggen daarbij het meest voor de hand, ook al is de defensiecultuur van die landen meer gericht op het verdedigen van het eigen grondgebied. De Nederlandse onderzeedienst is met z'n inzet in de internationale wateren meer expeditionair.

Raketten
Minister Hennis (Defensie) heeft al eerder aangegeven dat nieuwe onderzeeërs niet alleen inlichtingen moeten verzamelen, maar net als de huidige onderzeeërs ook een flinke slagkracht moeten bezitten. Behalve torpedo's, zoals de Walrus-boten, zouden de vervangers ook raketten moeten kunnen afvuren. Binnenkort komt de VVD-bewindsvrouw met een nadere uitwerking.

De Tweede Kamer heeft de vervanging van de Walrusklasse bestempeld tot 'groot project'. Dat betekent dat de minister geregeld en nauwgezet moet rapporteren over hoe de aanschaf ervoor staat en wat de verwachte kosten en risico's zijn. Ook komt er onafhankelijk toezicht, bijvoorbeeld van de Rekenkamer.

Defensie kent geen gelukkige geschiedenis met de aankoop van onderzeeërs. Bij de huidige Walrusklasse liepen de aanschafkosten zo uit de hand dat er bij de marineleiding koppen rolden. Defensie zag zich gedwongen de politiek meer te betrekken bij de aankoop van materieel.