Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Can Taliban Fly? Video Shows Fighters Taxiing Captured US-Made Chopper

Can Taliban Fly? Video Shows Fighters Taxiing Captured US-Made Chopper

The video indicates that Taliban forces were attempting to train or operate the US-made transport helicopter after the fall of the key Afghan city.

A Twitter video of an Afghan Air Force UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter taxiing has been geo-located by experts to Kandahar airport in southeastern Afghanistan on August 18. This indicates that Taliban forces were attempting to train or operate the US-made transport helicopter after the fall of the key Afghan city.


Significantly, the large bulk of the Afghan Air Force's most potent military assets were flown out of the country on August 15 to prevent then from falling into the hands of Taliban fighters.

Satellite imagery from Planet Labs showed more than 40 Afghan Air Force aircraft were flown into Uzbekistan including 10 Brazilian made A-29 Super Tucano Light attack aircraft, which were used to drop laser guided bombs on Taliban targets. One A-29 was lost after reportedly colliding mid-air with Uzbek MiG-29 fighters while fleeing Afghanistan. Five attack choppers to have flown into Uzbekistan were Mi-25 choppers, funded by India in 2019 and supplied by Belarus.

According to the defence journal Janes, ''The arrival of the platforms at Termez Airport in southern Uzbekistan was reported by the local media on 16 August with commercial satellite imagery of the site subsequently confirming the relocation of a significant part of the AAF's fleet.'' As many as 600 Afghans were believed to have flown into the country with the aircraft and have sought asylum.

Meanwhile, the news channel Russia 1 has also broadcast footage of at least 12 Afghan transport aircraft having arrived at the Bokhtar Airport in Tajikistan.


While the Taliban have captured at least one A-29 Super Tucano aircraft and an MD-530F military helicopter at Mazar-e-Sharif airport on August 15, its unlikely that the Taliban would be able to use these aircraft for any period of time without sustained spares support.

In an interview to Defence News, General Mark Clark, who leads the US Air Combat Command sai,d, "They may actually be able to get it airborne... but they'd probably be more dangerous to their own well-being than they would [be] to people on the ground." That said, the General adds, "I'm not naive enough to not be able to envision a scenario where maybe - maybe - they could find pilots, that maybe the former Afghan air force pilots would be coerced to come over to their side."

The Afghanistan Air Force did not operate modern fighter aircraft with any significant capability at the time the Taliban took over relying instead on low technology platforms supplied keeping in mind the limited impact these would have if they fell into the wrong hands.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
×