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Aug. 26, 2019 / 2:57 PM

MD Helicopters gets $50.4M logistics support contract for Afghan Air Force

MD Helicopters Inc. received a $50.4 million contract for logistics support for the Afghanistan Air Force's fleet of MD-530F helicopters. Photo by SSgt. Perry Aston/U.S. Air Force

MD Helicopters Inc. received a $50.4 million contract for logistics support for the Afghanistan Air Force's fleet of MD-530F helicopters. Photo by SSgt. Perry Aston/U.S. Air Force

Aug. 26 (UPI) -- MD Helicopters Inc. was awarded a $50.4 million contract for logistics support of Afghanistan Air Force helicopters, the U.S. Defense Department announced.

The contract is a modification of a prior agreement, and work will be done in Kabul and Mesa, with a completion date of May 2020. The nature of the logistics work was unspecified in Friday's Defense Department announcement.

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The Afghanistan Air Force has 28 of the Mesa, Ariz., company's MD-530F aircraft, with 154 more on order as the Afghan military transitions from Russian and former Soviet bloc-made aircraft.

The Afghan Air Force currently has 100 helicopters from the Russian Mil Mi-17 and Mi-24 series, and 43 U.S.-made Bell, HAL and Sikorsky helicopters, in addition to the MD fleet.

The Afghan Air Force consisted of 20 aircraft in 2007, but now also includes 29 fighter planes and 50 transport planes.

The MD-530 series is regarded as a light-duty aircraft and is based on the Vietnam-era OH-6 Cayuse, a light observation helicopter.

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