Helicopters in Afghanistan

When the Soviets occupied Afghanistan in the 80's. they had huge problems with their helicopters.

Problem 1 was the high altitudes. Afghanistan is high above sea level and helicopters struggle at these heights.

Problem 2 is that Afghanistan can be very hot in summer and helicopters struggle at these temps.

Probelm 3 is that Afghanistan is very dusty and plenty of sand to clog up the mechanicals.

Problem 4 is that the Soviets had to fly their copters at full power all the time to make up for problem 1 and 2 and filters for problem 3, which scrapped their engines and gearboxes within 100 hours.

What is that about learning from history?

[Supervox]

Originally Posted by The Basket

When the Soviets occupied Afghanistan in the 80's. they had huge problems with their helicopters.

Problem 1 was the high altitudes. Afghanistan is high above sea level and helicopters struggle at these heights.

Problem 2 is that Afghanistan can be very hot in summer and helicopters struggle at these temps.

Probelm 3 is that Afghanistan is very dusty and plenty of sand to clog up the mechanicals.

Problem 4 is that the Soviets had to fly their copters at full power all the time to make up for problem 1 and 2 and filters for problem 3, which scrapped their engines and gearboxes within 100 hours.

What is that about learning from history?

You neglected on problem from your list :-

Problem 5 was that the Americans supplied the Afghans with Stinger missiles - HIGHLY effective against the Hinds !!

[embee]

Irony?

During the Balkans war, former Yugoslavia, when the Serbs were ethnically cleansing all the rest, the helicopters used by the US/Euro coalition were those named after native American tribes who were ethnically cleansed in the 19th century by the white man. What goes around.........