U.S. Cuts Number of Black Hawks to Afghanistan by Two-Thirds
U.S. Cuts Number of Black Hawks to Afghanistan by Two-Thirds by Shawn Snow – Military Times
The U.S. military is reducing the number of UH-60 Black Hawks it plans to provide Afghan forces from 159 to just 53 — a two-thirds cut in the quantity of rotary wing assets American forces had intended to provide, according to a Defense Department report.
In its Dec. 2019 report titled “Enhancing Security and Stability of Afghanistan” the DoD provided few details surrounding the cut to the UH-60 program, which provides Afghan forces with troop and cargo transport and casualty evacuation.
The U.S. military also cut the number of armed fixed-wing AC-208 attack and reconnaissance aircraft it originally planned to deliver from 32 to 10. AC-208 Eliminator gunships — which made its debut in Kabul in Feb. 2019 — provides ground and precision attack armed with the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, or APKWS rockets…
