Pentagon awards $1.3 bn contract to Afghan Air Force

The United States Department of Defence on Tuesday has awarded a new contract for the Afghanistan's Air Force worth more than USD 1.3 billion.

The new contract comes after the Afghan government with the support of the The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the U. S. has been making efforts to boost the capabilities of the Afghan Air Force, the Khaama Press reported.

"MD Helicopters Inc.,* Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a USD 1,385,497,987 firm-fixed-price foreign military sales (Afghanistan) contract for procurement of an estimated quantity of 150 MD 530F aircraft and required production support services to include program management, delivery support, pilot training and maintenance," the U.S. department of Defence said in a notification.

"One bid was solicited, with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of August 31, 2022," it further added.

Pentagon has informed regarding the award of at least two contracts worth USD 727 million and USD 69.3 million.

Earlier, Pentagon had sent additional U.S. Marines to strengthen its forces in the violent Helmand province of Afghanistan where Taliban has increased their attacks.

Pentagon's decision of deploying more troops in Afghanistan comes when recently the Afghan Security and Defense Forces have successfully repelled the multiple attacks of Taliban fighters who targeted a bridge in the district and create a hurdle to the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline (TAPI) project in Gereshk district in the southern Helmand province in which over 40 Taliban insurgents and four soldiers were killed.

The deployment is not a part of the Trump administration's strategy for Afghanistan but 100 additional Marines were being deployed on a request from the Marine commander in the region.