The activity of the Italian military helicopters used in the mission in Afghanistan continues unabated, even in the face of the Covid-19 emergency, which in these days have reached the remarkable milestone of 13.500 hours of flight carried out in the Theater with the exploration helicopter and escort AH-129 Mongoose.
Since 2007, the “Mangusta” has been sailing the skies of the Afghan Operational Theater continuously, contributing to the safety of the coalition personnel involved in the country's long and complex stabilization process.
In support of NATO operations International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) before, and since 2015, Resolute Support (RS), the crews of the AH-129 helicopter line, framed in the Aviation Battalion - Task Group "FENICE" and coming from the 5th and 7th Army Aviation Regiments, ensure the ready presence of an aerial asset at the Herat base with exceptional reconnaissance and fire capabilities, guaranteeing an effective deterrent action to protect the Italian contingent.
In particular, in order to further increase the protection of the forces of the Train Advise Assist Command West (TAAC-W), engaged for months in consultancy and military assistance to the Afghan security forces, the Task Group "PHOENIX" has given a strong impulse to achieve the maximum integration of its "Mangusta" helicopters with tactical piloted aircraft remote "Shadow" organic to the department, developing techniques, tactics and procedures to maximize the use of the systems and increase the contingent engagement capacity.
This process also saw the participation of the joint US AH-64 "Apache" attack helicopters, also present on the Herat base, with which multiple training sorties were carried out, demonstrating the excellent level of integration now achieved by the aviation component of the Italian Armed Forces with allied countries.
The 13.500 flight hours milestone quantifies the work done by the AH-129 component by the Air Force of the Army in the last 13 years in Afghanistan; the capacity that the structure is able to express in the difficult operational context and the level of integration achieved with coalition forces represent its qualitative dimension.
