![]() Around other 1,000 security and special forces personnel, many of whom were already in country.1,000 Minnesota National Guardsmen from the 1 st Combined Arms Battalion/194 th Armor Regiment.2,000 (increased to 3,000 on Monday) paratroopers from the 82 nd Airborne Division, with the remainder of their brigade combat team remaining in reserve in Kuwait.2,000 Marines from the 1 st Battalion/8 th Marine Regiment (part of the 24 th Marine Expeditionary Unit), and the 2 nd Battalion, 1 st Marine Regiment.The troops deployed to secure the evacuation include: (Photo by Shakib Rahmani / AFP) (Photo by SHAKIB RAHMANI/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images TOPSHOT - Afghans (L) crowd at the airport as US soldiers stand guard in Kabul on August 16, 2021. United Arab Emirates (at least one C-17).Austria, Denmark, Holland and Sweden (one C-130 each).Other countries known to have deployed military airlift assets to evacuate nationals include but are by no means limited to: The U.K.’s Royal Air Force is also contributing substantial airlift assets including flights by four C-17s, a C-130J, two Airbus A400M Atlas turboprop-powered medium transports, and four Airbus A330MRTT tanker/transport jets. ![]() Smaller aircraft recorded shuttling into and out of Kabul include C-20, C-21 and E-11 jets, which are militarized Gulfstream III, Learjet 元5A and Bombardier Global Express business jets respectively. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) ASSOCIATED PRESS The C-5M Super Galaxy is one of the aircraft used for dignified transfer of remains, conducted upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base to honor those who have died while serving in a military theater of operations. Dover Air Force Base, Del., Monday, June 21, 2021. Those have a maximum capacity for 140.5 tons, or (officially) 345 troops in its upper and lower decks.Ī crew member walks through an empty cargo hold of a C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft on the flightline at. Notably, several of the Air Force’s ten specialized KC-135RT special-ops tanker variant have been active over Afghanistan, possibly used to shuffle fuel between regular KC-135s and C-130 aircraft, some of which in turn are capable of refueling helicopters.įinally, at least two of the Air Force’s gigantic C-5M Galaxy heavy haulers have made an appearance so far. In this case, the KC-135s also appear to be providing tanker support to cargo planes, and might also be ferrying fuel to the airport.Ī Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) on Monday reveals that fuel is running low at the airport, doubtlessly making the refueling mission of the KC-135Rs all the more vital. AFP PHOTO / VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty ImagesĪt least as numerous are flights by KC-135R and larger KC-10A refueling tankers, both of which frequently fulfill secondary duties as cargo carriers. ![]() Expeditionary Wing, based in Kyrgyzstan, conducts an aerial refueling of a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft flying from Afghanistan to Kyrgyzstan on December 18, 2011. The US KC-135 Stratotanker from the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron of the 376th Air. Despite claiming it is closed to civilian flights, it has periodically has allowed a limited number of civilian aircraft to land at the airport. military took over air traffic control of the Kabul airport last Saturday. These flights typically fly south through Pakistani airspace, then skirt around the coast of Iran over the Gulf of Oman and come in for landing Qatar. Online flight tracker data collected by open-source researchers reveal that a full spectrum of military airlift capabilities are at work over Afghanistan in a bid to create a sustainable air bridge to evacuate tens of thousands of expatriates and Afghan allies from Kabul even as Taliban fighters secure the capital and prepare to proclaim a new government called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. ![]() RCH-871 is hardly unique, however-the same official reportedly told Defense One that many other flights may have carried 640 or more passengers. Indeed, as RCH871 subsequently promptly received aerial refueling from an orbiting KC-135R tanker, it’s possible it took off with less than its maximum fuel load to ensure it could make it off the ground. Make no mistake, lifting six times more people than an aircraft is designed to seat is a heroic achievement of logistics, skill and sheer grit.
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