Documents / FOIA release
This is an unclassified, For Official Use Only news compilation produced by the US Embassy Kabul Public Affairs Office and distributed by the Open Source Center on 15 August 2015. It was later approved for release by the Central Intelligence Agency in 2018. It gathers Afghan, Pakistani and international press reports on an anti-Pakistan protest in Washington, China's support for Afghan peace talks, the combat debut of Afghan MD-530 helicopters, hostage releases in Ghazni and unemployment in Kunduz. It contains nothing about UFOs.
Print M¢$$agc($) Approved for Release: 2018/09/04 C06708887 Page |() of 49 r ~ ' / . ‘ \‘ UNCLASSIFIED/7'F§U0\ » "The addition of armed MD—530s to the Afghan Air Force is Pivotal following the January 2015 reduction in coalition airpower," said Capt. Cory Fale, helicopter pilot and MD-S30 advisor at Train, Advise, Assist Command—Air (TAAC-Air). "It was_great seeing the pride _ p beaming from the Afghan aircrews as they climbed out of their '> helicopters from their first combat mission." = .* - - A Fale, a UH-1N Huey helicopter pilot from F.E. War ren Air Force Wyoming, said his role as a TAAC—Air advisor during operations was to ' ‘ - " - assist with planning, mitigate risk, debrief aircrews and - coordinate A . ' ' with TAAC-East advisors in support of the AAF and ANDSF missions. "The MD—53O was the insurgent“s number one concern in Nangarhar," he " - _ - .c- h" . ,_ _ said. The delivery of the first Six armed MD-530 helicopters occurred ‘ !* ' ‘ ' A in March 2015. By early 2016, the AAF will have 16 in their inventory. ‘ V _ ' A ' _ The MD-530 is a close-air attack aircraft; Adding to the growing Afghan Air Force, it provides critical offensive air-to—ground capability. Each MD—53O is armed with two HMP,400 .50—caliber machine 7 Y . ’ . gun pods, which enables Afghan pilots to effectively engage the enemy. V ,v ' l ' V A = . - g . To accommodate the extra weight of the equipment, the helicopters were upgraded with high—capacity landing gear, allowing take—off and ~ A -r . ‘ landing with a maximum weight of 3,750 pound (1,700 kg) through the incorporation of jettisonable external stores. ‘ In coordination with Afghan Air Liaison Officers embedded with ANDSF, ‘ A H ~ "Jengi" pilots can bring firepower to,bear on the enemies of the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Fale said. - "The MD—53O is highly maneuverable and makes for a very small target," he said. "The helicopter, in conjunction with coalition trained Afghan aircrews, brings the ANDSF the capability to execute reconnaissance, security, escort,_close air attack, and aerial interdiction missions." . ' e ,.. J - UNCLASSlFIED/TF@U'6- . ' V _- i s/23/2017 Approved for Release: 2018/09/04 C06708887 __
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 49 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.