According to media reports, NATO powers have agreed to equip the National Air Force with more planes so that this section of military should be able to perform independently and the dependence of the country on foreign forces should be brought to an end. NATO members have agreed to equip the country with 185 planes that would be included of warplanes, helicopters, transportation planes and others. According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense, Minister of Defense, Gen. Bismillah Muhammadi raised the issue in the NATO Members’ conference at Wales, stating the dire need of the country for a strong and stable air force and NATO members agreed upon strengthening the force by the end of 2017.
It is a fact that country is facing serious problems in tackling the militancy due to the absence of strong air assistance. At present, our terrestrial forces depend on foreign forces for air support and the frequency and effectiveness of this support is shrinking day by day. Due to the lack of air support, we are not able to assist our army and commandos on land. Transportation of forces and military equipments is still a challenge when majority of the roads in the rural areas are not properly paved. In the same way, the work of army can be made much easier if they get the assistance from air. It is the reason why, many military operations against militants and Taliban in some parts of the county like Helmand and Kunduz were prolonged due to the absence of a proper air support. According to the military sources, these operations could have been more successful if our forces on ground had adequate of air force.
According to the sources, the three factions of our forces; army, commandos and air force were established. Our army and commandos are now fully independent and are performing their duties efficiently while our air force is still in the stage of infancy and a lot of work is still remaining to be done. In this regard, apart from providing with the planes and helicopters, well-trained pilots and engineers are also required. For this purpose, dozens of our air force officers are having training in different countries of the world like the US, England, Italy, India, and the United Arab Emirates. It is hoped that this will sufficiently fill the gap of well-trained man labor for our air force. At present, we have one air university in Kabul and a school in Herat which are working to train our pilots and other technicians. These facilities were also established with the financial and technical assistance of allied forces and they have been equipped with the latest facilities and have an international standard. However, much work is still to be done in this regard, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense added.
According to the ministry, apart from acquiring planes, our air force needs so many other things as well and it would take many years before our air force stands on its foot like our army and commandos. This includes of spare parts, repair and maintenance facilities, military airports, navigation and control systems, and the overall management and administration of these sections of the force. It is a good element that our friend nations have vowed to assist the country to cover up all these deficiencies.
In June 2013, a defaming report was released in media that due to inability of our forces, there was a danger that large number of planes provided to our forces would be wasted. The report had stated that our forces were not having enough skilled personnel to look after these planes and it was also partly due to the criminal ignorance and negligence of the officials of Ministry of Defense that these planes were in the bad shape.
Even after so much corruption and misuse of different aid projects and equipments, our friend nations are still committed to provide us with all the needs required to make the nation independent. The pledge and promise of NATO members in Wales is good news in conditions that the present deadlock in the presidential elections has almost disappointed everyone from the future of the country. Yet our friend nations are still hopeful that this nation will rise up once again and achieve a respectable position among the nations of the world.
This is needed that our concerned ministries should work with a proper coordination so that our air force should be made strong and independent. It is also necessary that all the aids and funds acquired in this regard should be utilized properly so as to completely avail all the benefits of this generous offer of the international community.
It is also a fact that we cannot afford any kind of negligence because Afghan government and economy is not in position to afford such aircrafts time and again and in such circumstances, the best and practical way is to wait for the upcoming planes and use the available aircrafts wisely and keep them in better shape. Any kind of negligence in this regard should not be compromised and the responsible culprits should be dragged through a strict process of penalties and punishment.