Afghanske analfabeter skal jobbe med fly

Report: Afghans Not Ready for $800M in Aircraft

Illiteracy, inability to maintain equipment among gov't watchdog's concerns

SIGAR recommends the Pentagon suspend its agreement to issue these aircraft to the Afghan military. 

The Afghans will not be able to fly - and perhaps more importantly maintain - their new fleet of Russian helicopters and Swiss planes after the U.S. drawdown next year, according to a new report from a Pentagon watchdog.

The Department of Defense plans to spend almost $554 million on 30 Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters and $218 million for 18 PC-12 planes for the Afghan Special Mission Wing, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Defense contractors currently perform half of the maintenance and repair on these aircraft, and 70 percent of the key maintenance and logistics management.

The Pentagon does not yet have a plan for transferring this capability to the Afghan government, the report states.

"The Afghans lack the capacity - in both personnel numbers and expertise - to operate and maintain the existing and planned SMW fleets," according to the report.

SIGAR recommends the Pentagon suspend its agreement to issue these aircraft to the Afghan military until it can agree on a plan with Kabul.