Taliban Gets American Black Hawk Helicopters | Afghanistan Crisis

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IzNbQDOXYI"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]a whole host of american weapons are now in the hands of the taliban a new video shows taliban pilots trying to fly a u.s blackhawk helicopter around the kandahar airport the blackhawk is one of the most famous birds in the air capable of carrying missiles and rockets and imagine what really it could do in the hands of the taliban a legendary american uh-60 blackhawk helicopter taxiing across the kandahar airfield not an unusual sight in afghanistan except the men operating the chopper are said to be taliban members [Music] this clip released by russian state media identifies the helicopter as a us army uh-60 blackhawk over 35 blackhawk helicopters supplied by the us to the afghan army were left abandoned in the rapid collapse following the u.s exit in the turbulence that followed open source intelligence suggests nine such helicopters were flown to uzbekistan by fleeing afghan government pilots that would mean at least 25 blackhawk helicopters are still in taliban hands the video only a minute long only shows the blackhawk on the ground and not taking off it is not clear if the taliban pilots managed to thereafter fly the chopper what is clear however is that the taliban is looking to make use of these advanced military helicopters but two big questions stand out first does the taliban even have credible pilots answering that only days ago the taliban said it would be hiring existing pilots from the collapsed afghan military about previous army and military that is collapsed finished so now if we want to hire them and bring them back to the this rank so definitely we will call them and they we need them because they have high training most of them got training in turkey and germany and england so we need them and we will call them to get back to their possessions the second big question flying is only part of air combat what about maintenance spares and learning how to use these choppers for military operations well the chinese harbin z20 helicopter is a reverse engineered copy of this very blackhawk and chinese friendship with the taliban means they could theoretically get help with maintenance spares and flying training if needed blackhawks are legendary helicopters which across variants have served the us and several other militaries since the 1970s updated versions of this highly reliable helicopter continue to be supplied to customers across the world india itself will be receiving the newest version of the blackhawk called the m860r from the us later this year but with 25 blackhawks down in afghanistan the taliban has overnight become one of the largest operators of the helicopter type outside the us it's a long difficult road but this new video shows they're taking their first steps bureau report india today you<br><!-- wp:image {"id":1776,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} -->rn<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img class="wp-image-1776" src="https://en.videoencontexto.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Taliban_Gets_American_Black_Hawk_Helicopters__Afghanistan_Crisis_4IzNbQDOXYI.jpg" alt="Taliban Gets American Black Hawk Helicopters | Afghanistan Crisis" /></figure>rn<!-- /wp:image -->[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]