He said the budget request the administration submitted to Congress late last month 'fully funds contracted logistics support for the Afghan aviation fleet so the Afghan government can maintain its advantage in the air.'ĭavid Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, an association for contractor companies, said in April that there were ' a lot of unanswered questions' about what comes next after the troop withdrawal.

'If we don't help them maintain those aircraft, then the Afghan security forces will be deprived of that advantage, and that could have a decisive impact on the battlefield and ultimately on the state of the Afghan government.' 'We're talking about the more or less grounding of the Afghan air force,' said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank.Īir power is arguably the Afghan government's main edge in its fight with the Taliban, said Bowman, a former Army officer and Black Hawk helicopter pilot who served in Afghanistan. Afghan soldiers unload food and fuel oil from an Afghan air force Black Hawk helicopter at Kajaki Dam in Kajaki, northeast of Helmand Province, on March 25. But the contractors' departure is a potentially devastating blow for the Afghan government in its fight against the Taliban. 11, and Afghan officials say they are able to take on the Taliban without the need for U.S. financial support of Afghanistan's army and police after U.S. The Biden administration has vowed to keep up U.S. Without the contractors' help, Afghan forces will no longer be able to keep dozens of fighter planes, cargo aircraft, U.S.-made helicopters and drones flying for more than a few more months, according to military experts and a recent Defense Department inspector general's report.

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