Czech upgraded choppers to join Afghan mission in spite of delayPrague - The Mi-171S helicopters which are being overhauled for joining the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, failed in the military tests this month and will have to repeat some of them, but the Defence Ministry still reckons with the start of the helicopter mission in November, Czech officials said today.
In November, the mission's logistics and supportive units are to move to the Sharana base in the Afghan province Paktia.
Since Monday, four crews who are trained for the mission, have been exercising at the U.S. Fort Knox base.
Defence Minister Martin Bartak told the lower house defence committee today that the ministry considers "the start of the helicopters' operation [in the ISAF] its priority this year."
The ministry previously promised to NATO that the helicopter mission will start in the second half of the year.
The deadline will be observed if the helicopters are sent in in November, in spite of a half-year delay in their overhaul carried out by the Prague-based LOM company.
LOM director Jindrich Ploch told journalists that the upgraded helicopters recently failed to pass the military tests in five points out of the total nine.
The problems are nothing crucial what would influence the helicopters' operation, he said.
The additional tests will be made in early June, after the shortcomings are removed, and then the helicopters will be handed to the military for training, Ploch said.
Ploch told journalists that the LOM recently received the documentation from the Mi-171S' Russian producer, MZV Mil, which confirms the LOM's authorisation to overhaul the choppers.
He said the LOM has recently registered NATO member states' interest in the LOM upgrading their respective Russian-made helicopters.
Czech military chief-of-staff Vlastimil Picek said the Czech helicopter pilots should in south-eastern Afghanistan secure transport services for the ISAF units and support to the Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team operating in the Logar province.
"The mission will start after the pilots and the equipment are ready," Picek said.
Bartak indicated that Czech experts could be repairing Russian-made air equipment for their allies at Afghanistan's Bagram base near Kabul.
Three helicopters are to operate in the mission. The Czech parliament has approved the sending of up to 110 members of the flying and ground staff.
Source
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/czech-upgraded-choppers-to-join-afghan-mission-in-spite-of-delay/378013
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