The Afghan air force took delivery of its fourth—and last planned—C-130H transport from prior US inventory, according to a release. The airplane arrived on June 20 at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul after a weeklong trip from Little Rock AFB, Ark., states the release. “This fourth C-130 is very important to us,” said AAF Capt. Muhammad Azimy, a C-130 pilot. “We need to support more troops, moving them as soon as possible from one point to another, getting them into the fight faster. Getting commandos from the north to the south by helicopter would take days, but by C-130, it will take only a few hours,” he added. The AAF’s first two C-130Hs arrived in October 2013, followed by the third in 2014. “These C-130s are the Afghan air force’s first four-engine aircraft with this type of expanded capability,” said Lt. Col. Tyler Faulk, deputy director of the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan’s Security Assistance Office.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.