Hip Hip Hooray!

Our leased Mi-8s are now operational in Afstan (the answer to the question at 2) here):

PASAB, Afghanistan - Canadian soldiers will be safer in Afghanistan, after a Toronto-based aviation company began flying supplies Monday in a new year-long lease deal, military authorities said.

Sky Link will be flying six Russian-built Mi-8 choppers for the NATO mission here in which Canada is a pivotal nation.

The aircraft will partially fulfil one of the recommendations of the Manley Report issued in January - that Canada needs medium-lift helicopters by February 2009 to avoid exposing soldiers to the roads, where dozens of Canadians have died from improvised bombs and ambushes.

"This is the first step in providing those new air capabilities to Canadian forces here in Afghanistan," said Col. Christopher Coates, commander of Canadian air operations in Afghanistan.

Canadian soldiers are now training to fly six troop-carrying Chinook helicopters leased from the U.S. [see this post again]

"As a task force it allows us to transport, with the Mi-8s, cargo and with the Chinooks, personnel, with a view to try and get Canadians off the roads here in Afghanistan where they are exposed to all the dangers of this country . . . ambushes and IEDs," Coates said.

Where Canadians are operating in the area around Pasab in Zhari District and in the similarly volatile Arghandab and Panjwaii districts, insurgents plant improvised-explosive devices by roadways on a daily basis, exposing troops to tremendous risk on the roads. Nearly half of Canada's 97 combat deaths in the Afghan war have come from such bombs.

The Mi-8 choppers will be deployed through a pool system among NATO forces, wherever they're needed most, by whichever country, Coates said [first I've seen about a "pool system"--it wasn't mentioned by the government when it announced the helicopter lease--see "I. Securing Medium Helicopter Lift Capacity...Immediate Needs" here].

"If the priority for us that day perhaps is moving troops, and not cargo, then maybe what those Mi-8s can do is transport some British cargo and we'll use British Chinooks to transport our troops," Coates said.

Sky Link has a one-year contract to supply the Mi-8s, with provisions for extension. They're starting off with two models, the "T" version and the "MTV" version, and will be moving to all MTVs, said Bob Waring, project manager for the company [more here on the Mi-8 and its Mi-17 version--anyone know if the MTV is in fact a Mi-17].

"It is a very versatile aircraft with extremely good capability for high, hot and heavy operations which is what we are looking at doing here," Waring said. "Because . . . we're fully integrated into the military chain of command, we are able to take advantage of the intelligence to determine what's safe and how best to operate the aircraft to get the job done as safely and effectively as possible," Waring said. "The fair majority of all my management people, all my senior managers, are retired military folks, either Canadian or American, so we have the experience."

Civilian pilots, some of whom have flown in Afghanistan, will pilot the helicopters, Waring said, adding that the company had previously been operating in war-ravaged Darfur, Sudan. The helicopters will not be able to return fire, Waring said.

"We have measures in place to be able to safeguard the protection of our crews in the event of an emergency landing on the ground," he said.

Military authorities would not disclose what supplies were flown out Monday on the Mi-8s' inaugural Afghanistan mission.

I'd be curious to know the nationality of the pilots, some Russians, Ukrainians, et al., perhaps?

Update: Some answers:

...Some of the pilots served in Afghanistan as part of the Soviet military, flying similar helicopters during the war against the mujahedeen in the 1980s. They flashed thumbs-up as they strapped on body armour...

Canada has reportedly considered sending CH-146 Griffons to guard the transport helicopters, but decided to leave protection duties up to other NATO allies...

"There are some of our crew members who have some previous flying experience in this neck of the woods," Mr. Waring said.

SkyLink is initially working with a mixed fleet of "T" and "MTV" model Mi-8s, but the company plans to shift towards using only MTVs, which are designed for high temperatures and altitudes [i.e. Mi-17s--more on NATO's helicopter problems in Afstan here]. They will carry only cargo, mostly resupplying forward bases...

Upperdate photo:

A Canadian-contracted Mi-8 helicopter prepares to depart Kandahar Air Field carrying valuable supplies to troops in Canadian forward operating bases in Kandahar Province. The flights on November 17th, 2008, mark the first time these aircraft have been employed under a new contract that increases Task Force Kandahar’s air capability.

Photo by Cpl Andrew Saunders, Task Force Kandahar Imagery Technician