By akademiotoelektronik, 03/03/2023

Afghanistan: How much is the arsenal left by the Americans to the Taliban?

The Taliban have armored vehicles, planes, helicopters, drones and modern weapons delivered by the Americans until last June.Experts seek to know the amount of the invoice paid by the United States to equip the Afghan army.

The Taliban has an imposing military power, it is a fact.The American army has left them a huge arsenal, that of their troops, but also the equipment given by the United States to the Afghan army.Army deliveries have even continued until summer.In a report, the SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction), an official American surveillance body, estimates the equipment delivered in only two months to only two months, between April 30, 2021.

In this list, ammunition of different calibers (from 5.56 For assault rifles for 70 mm rockets) for $ 28.3 million, military clothes for $ 3.6 million, spare parts (diesel and hydraulic transmissions, $ 5.48 million),but also armored vehicles and combat aircraft.

Before the summer, the United States delivered the Afghan army six A-29 Tucano, planes intended for antigurle and pilot training (133.51 million dollars), as well as 174 light armored vehicles M1151Humvee ($ 41.5 million).

This amount is nevertheless a drop of water in American expenses to equip the Afghan army.To modernize and train it, the United States would have spent $ 83 billion in twenty years.

In his latest report which takes stock of 20 years of presence in Afghanistan, John F.Sopko, boss of Sigar appointed by Barack Obama in 2012, estimates that each year, $ 300 million was pocketed by the Afghan government to finance "a ghost army" and "by swelling the wages of the Afghan national army andother forces ".

The number of combat rifles, handguns, explosives and ammunition is difficult to quantify.On images posted on social networks, the Taliban forces exhibit on social networks and in front of the media of automatic weapons, M4 and M16, Snipers of type M24 Sws (for sniper Weapon System).For heavy equipment, many experts try to assess American expenses to create a most modern Afghan army.

Plagues, helicopters and combat drones

According to the specialized blog oryxspioenkop.com, the Taliban would have a total of 2082 humvee, around fifty cannons or heavy mortars, 60 light tanks, 12 heavy tanks, two planes, 24 helicopters, including 4 "black hawk" and 8 MD 530F as well as seven dronesBoeing Scaneagle.

This inventory was established from images and videos broadcast by the media and the Taliban.

This is the case of Russian helicopters Mi-17 Hip bought by the United States because cheaper and easier to drive than UH-60 Black Hawk.The Afghan army would have a hundred reveals an article from the Guardian.

But "this fleet requires repairs, maintenance and a spare parts supply.A large part of the fleet could already be nailed to the ground, "said Alexander Mikheev, Managing Director of Rosoboronexport, at the Interfax news agency.

Afghans, however, have the skills necessary to control and maintain abandoned aircraft.To prepare for their departure, the Americans have trained specialists in the various fields.Between 2015 and 2020, a US Air Force training unit formed drivers and technicians on A-29 Tucano.Now autonomous, they took over to train in turn, indicates the American site military.com.

1000 billion dollars

The material is not so dilapidated as one might think.In its latest report, which takes stock of 20 years of presence in Afghanistan, the SIGAR specifies that each year, a third of the equipment was replaced.

So many elements that give an idea of the complexity of accurately assessing American expenses in two decades.Since the announcement of the withdrawal of American troops, many have been trying to know how much the American presence has cost.Like the Le Figaro report, the US Department of Defense estimates the military expenditure incurred between October 2001 and September 2019 to $ 778 billion.

Sur le même sujet

In a study carried out in 2019, the Watson Institute of the Brown University of Rhode Island estimates that the US military intervention has in total cost $ 978 billion, a figure closer to the 1000 billion revealed by Joe Biden on August 16.A colossal amount that served also made it possible to run the American defense industry, whatever it costs.

https://twitter.com/PascalSamama Pascal Samama Journaliste BFM Éco