 |
| Afghan MD530F Cayuse Warrior (Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
Kabul has ordered 12 more MD530F Cayuse Warrior light attack helicopters for the 2016 fighting season.
The Afghan Air Force (AAF) has placed an order for 12 more MD530F Cayuse Warrior light attack helicopters fitted with a so-called Enhanced Mission Equipment Package (EMEP) for the 2016 fighting season, MD Helicopters, Inc. announced in a January 11 press release.
MD Helicopters already delivered 12 MD530F Cayuse Warrior aircraft to the AAF for the 2015 fighting season and has also converted five unarmed MH-6 Little Bird helicopters into MD530F light attack gunships, bringing the total number of Cayuse Warrior light attack aircraft in the AAF up to 16. (One helicopter was lost in a training incident.)
Should the helicopters be delivered within the next five months, the AAF will be able to enter the 2016 fighting season with a fleet of 28 MD 530F Cayuse Warrior light attack helicopters. However, in 2015 it took MD Helicopters around eight months to deliver the 12 helicopters after the contract was awarded, which could imply that the AAF will be without the additional aircraft for the most intense part of the fighting season during the summer. The press release notes that “MD Helicopters has demonstrated the ability to deliver fully integrated gunships to theater in less than 12 months,” perhaps indicating that it will take more than eight months for the helicopters to appear on the battlefields of Afghanistan.
Read the full story at The Diplomat