When the United States wanted to buy a fleet of helicopters for the Afghan government in the early 2010s, it chose the Mi-17 sold by a Russian state-owned arms exporter.
The decision angered legislators who felt that the Pentagon should choose a US manufacturer. But the Department of Defense stayed the course, stating that Russian helicopters were relatively cheap, worked well in the desert expanses and high altitudes of Afghanistan, and Afghan pilots knew how to pilot them.
A decade later, neither Congress nor the Kremlin could foresee that these helicopters would be used against Russian forces through U.S.-processed arms transfers in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and the Taliban's seizure of Afghanistan.
The Mi-17's unusual trip was not mentioned in President Joe Biden's announcement last week promoting his approval of an $800 million security package that dramatically expands the scope of Washington's military aid to Kiev.
“These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery cartridges and armored personnel carriers,” Biden said. “I have also approved the transfer of additional helicopters.”
Those 11 helicopters are heading to Ukraine at a crucial time for its unarmed and unmanned army, as Russia intensifies its attacks in the east and south of the country. Mi-17s are personnel carriers that can be armed with cannons and rockets, allowing them to play an attack role and provide close air support.
Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky personally asked Biden for helicopters last week during a phone call that resulted in the last-minute addition of aircraft to the latest security package, said people familiar with the decision who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss arms transfers.
“Ukraine could use the Mi-17 to transport troops, including for special operations raids, evacuate casualties, move ammunition and other key supplies, or attack Russian targets, including troops or infrastructure,” said Rob Lee, a senior member of the Foreign Policy that focuses on Russian defense policy.
“The more helicopters they have, the more aggressively they can use them,” he added.
In total, the United States has agreed to provide 16 Mi-17s to Ukraine. All of them were undergoing contracted maintenance by the United States outside Afghanistan in August, when the Taliban seized the country and seized billions of dollars in Western-supplied military equipment, said Captain Mike Kafka, a Pentagon spokesman.
At that time, the helicopters still belonged to the Afghan government, but since they were paid by U.S. taxpayers under the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund, the Pentagon notified Congress in December that it intended to “treat” the aircraft as the property of the Department of Defense , said US defense officials familiar with the matter.
Once Biden agreed to transfer the helicopters to Ukraine, the next challenge was to get them there.
Conveniently, five Mi-17s were already in Ukraine for maintenance when the Russian offensive began, something that is not strange given Ukraine's experience in Soviet-designed military equipment. Those helicopters, considered “surplus defence items” under the Arms Export Control Act, have been officially delivered to Ukraine, a defense official said.
The other 11 Mi-17s are stored at Davis-Monthan Air Base, outside Tucson. The Pentagon could send them to Ukraine as soon as this weekend, the defense official said, warning that “many factors”, including weather, would determine the precise date.
The onslaught of weapons into Ukraine has angered Moscow, which has warned the United States to stop arming Ukraine or will face “unforeseeable consequences”.
The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that transfers of Pentagon helicopters should serve as a warning to Ukraine about how Washington treats its security partners.
“The Pentagon is now sending helicopters to Ukraine, helicopters that it had previously ordered for the Afghan army, a country that the Americans eventually abandoned,” Maria Zakharova said. “Will Ukraine repeat the fate of Afghanistan? The helicopters did it. American politicians are true to their words in this regard. The art of betraying their closest allies lies in their political blood.”
Ukrainian officials, however, have expressed their gratitude for Washington's security assistance, although they continue to call for more sophisticated weaponry.
“President Biden has shown real leadership in helping [Ukraine], mobilizing [the] international community to support Ukraine,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in recent days.
The irony of using Russian military equipment against Moscow forces in Ukraine does not go unnoticed by military experts, some of whom suggested that the Mi-17s would probably be used to greater effect there than in Afghanistan.
“For once, we're handing over assets to a government and army that are capable of using them,” said Jason Dempsey, a former army officer who helped train Afghan forces.
Military personnel from Ukraine, a former Soviet state, have more experience using Russian helicopters than American Chinooks or Black Hawks, Dempsey said.
That convenience with Russian-made equipment has made other European countries agree to provide key Soviet-era weapons that can easily be used by Ukrainians in battle. Slovakia, for example, has agreed to send its Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missile defense system, after Washington offered to replace it with a battery of more advanced Patriot missiles. The governments of Poland and the Czech Republic have also provided Ukraine with Russian-made T-72 tanks.
“The Russians have so flooded the world with cheap but reliable weapons that they have effectively armed both sides of the war,” said Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
The repercussions of these sales are not unknown to the United States, the world's largest arms supplier, which has repeatedly fought opponents armed with US weapons or supplied to governments that have subsequently committed atrocities.
“When you sell someone a hammer, you don't know if they're going to use it to build a house or to break their window,” said JJ Gertler, an analyst at the consulting firm Teal Group.
(C) The Washington Post.-
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