Video reportingly shows #Taliban captured Kunduz airport with #Afghanistan Air Force Mi-35 Hind attack helicopter
Location at Kunduz confirmed (36.66575, 68.91244)
14 July @planet satellite image (below) shows Mi-35 with rotor blades attached.
10 August @Maxar image confirms Mi-35 still in place yesterday but rotor blades removed - possibly to further disable it from future use.
How it started How it’s going
To be clear this a loss for #Afghanistan but does not equate to an operational attack helicopter for #Taliban
Though rotor blades are stored below this suggests further technical reasons airframe was left behind. Also would required trained ground & air crews to operate.
#Taliban reportedly shown with another non-operational #Afghanistan Air Force helicopter
#US supplied Bell MD-530F '289' was damaged in emergency landing in Bolan area, Helmand province 29 July.
#Taliban reportedly shown at captured Shindand Air Base, Herat Province with two #Afghanistan Air Force Mi-17 Hip helicopters undergoing maintenance and a room of spares parts.
This was not meant to become a thread on #Afghanistan lost air force... 🤦♂️
#Taliban reportedly with another #Afghanistan Air Force Mi-17 Hip Helicopter yesterday. (Some difficulty in confirm location and date of this however)
Another #Afghanistan Air Force Mi-17 Hip Helicopter reportedly yesterday - note absence of winch and different camo from example above.
Reportedly #Taliban at Ghazni with #US supplied Bell MD-530F and at least one UH-60 Blackhawk yesterday
Footage reportedly showing #Taliban at Kandahar airport #Afghanistan with 2 #US supplied UH-60 Blackhawk (one under maintenance, one on apron) and 2 stored Mi-17 Hip helicopters
Confirmation of Kandahar airport location (31.51086, 65.86269), geolocated with @planet 19 June satellite imagery
New footage reportedly showing #Taliban at Herat airport with 2 seemingly operable #Afghanistan Air Force Mi-17 Hip helicopters
Confirmation of Herat airport location (34.21595, 62.22686), geolocated with @planet 14 Feb satellite imagery
@planet Important to note recent @Maxar & @planet imagery indicates #Afghanistan Air Force managed to redeploy majority of operational aircraft away from #Taliban capture.
However for fixed-wing aircraft including armed A-29B & AC-208 they are fast running out of safe airbases.
While it appears the #Taliban may have captured some operable Mi-17 Hip helicopters (and potentially other types in future) their access to proficient air crews will remain a limiting factor - these are not forgiving 'pick up and play' platforms.
Further footage reportedly shows #Taliban at Kandahar airport with #Afghanistan Air Force #US supplied C-208 transport aircraft (not armed AC-208 variant) and MD-530F helicopter '300' (rotors removed)
Confirmation of Kandahar airport location (31.51154, 65.86429), geolocated with @planet 19 June satellite imagery
Reportedly #Taliban at Mazar-i-Sharif Air Base with another #Afghanistan Air Force MD-530F helicopter and significantly their first A-29B Super Tucano light strike aircraft (serviceability unknown)
Reportedly another image from Mazar-i-Sharif Air Base yesterday showing a further three #Afghanistan Air Force MD-530F helicopters
Amidst apparent desperation and chaos at #Kabul airport, remainder of #Afghanistan Air Force is also likely held up there. Indications some aircraft already left country but others may well be destroyed/disabled by departing forces to prevent capture (archive images)
An #Afghanistan Air Force A-29B Super Tucano apparently crashed in #Uzbekistan overnight after fleeing the country gazeta.uz/uz/2021/08/16/…
Identification of #Afghanistan Air Force A-29B Super Tucano wreckage that reportedly crashed in #Uzbekistan
"Uzbekistan's air defence forces prevented an attempt by an Afghan military aircraft to illegally cross Uzbekistan's border"
- #Uzbekistan defence ministry spokesman
reuters.com/world/asia-pac…
The shot down A-29B Super Tucano is not believed to be the only #Afghanistan Air Force aircraft crossing the #Uzbekistan border in the last 24hrs, though what authorisations were given or not is unknown.
So not shot down...
“However, during the escort, the Embraer 314 and MiG-29 aircraft collided and fell in the Sherabad district of the Surkhandarya region...”
- #Uzbekistan General Prosecutor's Office
gazeta.uz/ru/2021/08/16/…
#Uzbekistan General Prosecutors Office has reportedly withdrawn the claim of collision with a Mig-29
apnews.com/article/europe…
Reportedly another #Afghanistan MD-530F at #Taliban captured Mazar-i-Sharif airport. If previous imagery accurate this would make at least five from this site alone.
Footage of two #Afghanistan UH-60 Blackhawk reportedly having landed in a field in #Uzbekistan
Amazing 16th August @planet satellite image shows the fleeing #Afghanistan Air Force aircraft that have appeared at Termuz #Uzbekistan in the last few of days
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