Changes

::I found earlier sources saying pretty much the same thing (other than the fact that the Trump Administration made it official): [http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-usa-helicopters-idUSKBN13N2FO][https://www.voanews.com/a/afghanistan-to-get-helicopters-aircraft-as-part-of-security-plan/3786469.html][http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/us-to-replace-russian-mi-17s-with-black-hawk-helicopters-in-afghanistan/] The fact that the Trump Administration made it official may be a good reason to add it, but I will leave it for other editors to comment on for now. --[[User:1990'sguy|1990'sguy]] ([[User talk:1990'sguy|talk]]) 15:26, 26 June 2017 (EDT)  

::I found earlier sources saying pretty much the same thing (other than the fact that the Trump Administration made it official): [http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-usa-helicopters-idUSKBN13N2FO][https://www.voanews.com/a/afghanistan-to-get-helicopters-aircraft-as-part-of-security-plan/3786469.html][http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/us-to-replace-russian-mi-17s-with-black-hawk-helicopters-in-afghanistan/] The fact that the Trump Administration made it official may be a good reason to add it, but I will leave it for other editors to comment on for now. --[[User:1990'sguy|1990'sguy]] ([[User talk:1990'sguy|talk]]) 15:26, 26 June 2017 (EDT)  

:::Thank you for the further research. The December 1, 2016 "diplomat.com" reference said that in November, the White House sent a supplemental appropriation request to the Congress to include funding for the new American replacement helicopters, so as far as the Pentagon was concerned, the Executive Branch had approved it, subject to Congressional funding.  So, I think this was an Obama Administration decision. This is another example of a non-partisan change. Neither Republicans nor Democrats like the idea of being dependent on Russia for parts and maintenance of Afghan helicopters. It was not practical to retrain Afghan pilots, so the Russian contractor was exempted from the Ukraine-related sanctions.  Russian were not fulfilling the parts and maintenance contract, so the Afghan government was ready to switch to US helicopters, and the Obama Administration requested funding to make this possible.  The new copters will be delivered in 2019. Nothing to add to this article, although you could add something to the [[Afghanistan]] article. [[User:JDano|JDano]] ([[User talk:JDano|talk]]) 15:47, 26 June 2017 (EDT)

:::Thank you for the further research. The December 1, 2016 "diplomat.com" reference said that in November, the White House sent a supplemental appropriation request to the Congress to include funding for the new American replacement helicopters, so as far as the Pentagon was concerned, the Executive Branch had approved it, subject to Congressional funding.  So, I think this was an Obama Administration decision. This is another example of a non-partisan change. Neither Republicans nor Democrats like the idea of being dependent on Russia for parts and maintenance of Afghan helicopters. It was not practical to retrain Afghan pilots, so the Russian contractor was exempted from the Ukraine-related sanctions.  Russian were not fulfilling the parts and maintenance contract, so the Afghan government was ready to switch to US helicopters, and the Obama Administration requested funding to make this possible.  The new copters will be delivered in 2019. Nothing to add to this article, although you could add something to the [[Afghanistan]] article. [[User:JDano|JDano]] ([[User talk:JDano|talk]]) 15:47, 26 June 2017 (EDT)