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US to buy Russian helicopters for Afghan air force
Defence Department officials have argued that purchasing the M-17s would accelerate the handover of control to Afghan forces.
Most Afghan pilots are in their 40s or older and have flown nothing else. Most of the 92 currently qualified pilots are products of the Soviet flying school.
Teaching them to use US helicopters such as the Chinook or Black Hawk would add as much as two years to making the Afghan National Army Air Corps self-reliant, according to the US military officials.
Considered an easy-to-maintain workhorse, the M-17 is comparatively simple to fly and is well suited to Afghanistan's high altitudes and desert landscapes.
The US has already spent $648 million on 31 civilian M-17s which it customised for military use in Afghanistan, primarily to transport troops and equipment.