http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/ en http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/afghan-air-force-harsh-lesson-expensive-game-airpower-reconstruction <span>The Afghan Air Force: A Harsh Lesson in the Expensive Game of Airpower Reconstruction</span> <span><span>Riley.C.Murray</span></span> <span>Sun, 10/10/2021 - 3:36am</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item">“Not to have an adequate air force in the present state of the world is to compromise the foundations of national freedom and independence.”[1] British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, recognized the value of airpower as early as 1933 during the rise of Adolf Hitler, and his words hold to this day. The United States spent sixteen of the last twenty years and precious resources attempting to rebuild the Afghan Air Force (AAF) into a viable, self-sustaining military aviation component capable of supporting the democratically-elected Afghan government. The withdrawal of U.S. and Coalition forces in August of 2021, and the embarrassingly swift takeover by the Taliban, have left the AAF in shambles. Many pilots fled with their aircraft to neighboring countries, where their fate remains uncertain, while the rest are now in Taliban hands.</div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/afghan-air-force-harsh-lesson-expensive-game-airpower-reconstruction" rel="tag" title="The Afghan Air Force: A Harsh Lesson in the Expensive Game of Airpower Reconstruction" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about The Afghan Air Force: A Harsh Lesson in the Expensive Game of Airpower Reconstruction</span></a></li><li class="comment-comments"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/afghan-air-force-harsh-lesson-expensive-game-airpower-reconstruction#comments" title="Jump to the first comment." hreflang="en">4 comments</a></li><li class="comment-new-comments"><a href="/index.php/taxonomy/term/1622/feed" class="hidden" title="Jump to the first new comment." data-history-node-last-comment-timestamp="1674806510" data-history-node-field-name="comment"></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> Sun, 10 Oct 2021 07:36:30 +0000 Riley.C.Murray 139977 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/new-platform-and-new-plan-afghan-air-force <article data-history-node-id="82845" role="article" class="article teaser clearfix"> <h2> <a href="/jrnl/art/new-platform-and-new-plan-afghan-air-force" rel="bookmark"><span>A New Platform and New Plan for the Afghan Air Force</span> </a> </h2> <footer> <article> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="masquerade.callbacks:renderCacheLink" arguments="0=4" token="2JcDkyvoNdz7AbcUTZXDTgfSvABuLH-TUc0jYOzfCs0"></drupal-render-placeholder></article> <div class="author"> <span>Thu, 01/18/2018 - 12:49am</span> </div> </footer> <div class="content"> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p> With new aircraft, at-home training, maintenance practices, and a new generation of eager pilots and aircrew, it will be possible to begin to turn the tide at all levels of the Afghan war.</p> </div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/jrnl/art/new-platform-and-new-plan-afghan-air-force" rel="tag" title="A New Platform and New Plan for the Afghan Air Force" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about A New Platform and New Plan for the Afghan Air Force</span></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> <h2>About the Author(s)</h2> <div class="views-element-container form-group"></div> </div> </article> Thu, 18 Jan 2018 05:49:57 +0000 SWJED 82845 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com