Menu Kabul NEO HomeNews Information Resources Prior to Sep 30, 2021 Afghan War News
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Aircraft
Kabul airspace on August 20, 2021 0738L C-17 Globemasters were the heavy lifters during the NEO - bringing in US military troops and pulling out personnel for evacuation. Different variants of the C-130 Hercules were used to move troops on to Kabul airport and evacuate personnel out of Afghanistan by several countries. The United Kingdom, France, Australia, Germany, and other countries also contributed aircraft for the evacuation of their embassy personnel and citizens. U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters provided security for the airfield. Other aircraft such as AC-130J Ghostriders flew overhead to provide close air support if/when needed. Reconnaissance aircraft such as the RC-135 V/W Rivet Joint provided on-scene intelligence collection and dissemination. 1. There have also been instances of an EC-130H Compass Call aircraft (electronic warfare and jamming) flying in the Afghanistan region.
Evacuees from Afghanistan depart a U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender after
landing The U.S. aircraft are taking off from bases in Qatar and the UAE, overlying Pakistan in a clearly defined air corridor, and landing at the military side of the Hamid Karzai International Airport. Once on the ground in Kabul the hot offload and hot onload personnel. They do not refuel in Kabul. The aircraft take off from Kabul with a light fuel load and immediately rendezvous with a tanker - most likely a KC-135 Stratotanker. They then fly back to either Qatar of the UAE. Armed Overwatch was provided by F/A-18s, A-10s, B-52s, F-16s, and MQ-9 Reapers. The aircraft involved in the movement of personnel from the US embassy to the airport included military helicopters as well as CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters belonging to the State Department. Some aircraft will show up on online flight trackers such as Flight Radar 24. Other aircraft such as US air tankers (C/S Trout) and B-52s (C/S Grimm) will not show up on trackers that can be monitored by civilians. If you have Twitter you can track the air flow on a feed by the Military Air Tracking Alliance at https://twitter.com/MATA_osint . A list of aircraft used in "The Kabul Airlift" was compiled by the Defence Geek
(Twitter) and was current to Tuesday, August 17, 2021. Some chartered aircraft have made the flight into Kabul - but these have been limited. Any aircraft that isn't military or commericial (scheduled airlines) need to have submitted a PPR form - "Prior Permission Required" to land at HKIA.
Ramstein Air Base, Germany - Tent City for Kabul Evacuees
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Books about the Kabul non-combatant evacuation
operation (NEO) of August 2021,
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