KABUL, Afghanistan—The one real advantage Afghanistan has had in its unrelenting war with the Taliban is in the air. With the withdrawal of U.S. forces though, Kabul is finding itself unprepared for the loss of the very air assets that, until now, have given it an edge over the insurgency.
The planned withdrawal of all U.S. troops and private contractors by Sept. 11—and the drawdown is already more than half complete—could leave the Afghan Air Force (AAF) grounded within months if the government does not find an alternative source of maintenance for its fleet of Black Hawk helicopters and C-130 Hercules transport planes. The last pilots trained in the United States to fly the A-29 Super Tucano light combat aircraft graduated in November 2020.
