Symbolising the withdrawal of Coalition forces from south-west Asia, these US troops wait for the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III to take them home from Joint Base Balad, which was handed back to the Iraqi Air Force in December 2011. (US Air Force)
Change of Air A massive logistic operation is now ramping up, as most elements of the 49-nation International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are to be withdrawn from remote, landlocked Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The US Army alone is estimated to have $ 27 billion of hardware in the country, including 25,000 vehicles and 100,000 shipping containers.
Roy Braybrook
O
n the assumption that Afghanistan’s southern border would remain open, around 70 per cent of US military equipment was originally to be moved out by truck through Pakistan to the port of Karachi. However, continuing tensions with Pakistan may well result in more now being sent (expensively) through
the Northern Distribution Network (NDN). In this they are trucked via the Salang Tunnel through the Hindu Kush, and subsequently moved by train across the former Soviet Union to ports in Latvia and Lithuania. Most goes via Termez in Uzbekistan at a cost of $ 40,000 per container. However, the Northern Distribution Network is closed to weapon systems and combat vehicles. The original plan was that only personnel (US troops peaked at 125,000, but are now
The largest helicopter in service, the 56-tonne Mil Mi-26 first flew in 1977, but is still marketed in updated Mi-26T2 form. (Russian Helicopters).
down to less than 60,000) and high-value assets such as helicopters, drones and electronic equipment would be flown out. However, problems have recently arisen at Afghan border posts, with customs authorities claiming that much of the equipment imported since 2010 has no proper documentation. Consequent delays to ground
Compendium Air, Sea and Land Mobility 2013
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