UK returns Pumas from Afghanistan

The United Kingdom has withdrawn the Westland-Aerospatiale SA 330E Puma HC2 medium-lift helicopters that have been operating in and around the Afghan capital of Kabul since 2015.

The UK has withdrawn from Afghanistan the three Puma helicopters that have been operating in and around Kabul since 2015. (Train Advise Assist Command – East)

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 25 June that the three helicopters and approximately 50 personnel assigned to Operation ‘Toral' had been flown to Royal Air Force (RAF) Brize Norton in Oxfordshire aboard a chartered Antonov An-225 airlifter.

“The [Puma] detachment has been serving as part of the NATO-led non-combat mission to train, advise, and assist the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, known as the Resolute Support Mission,” the MoD said. “The UK armed forces are currently in the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan in line with the NATO mission Resolute Support.”

The UK deployed three Puma HC2 helicopters (crewed by personnel from 33 Squadron and 230 Squadron from RAF Benson) to Afghanistan in March 2015, taking over from the Boeing Chinooks that had been flying in support of the Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA) and Afghan security ministries in Kabul since late 2014. One Puma HC2 helicopter crashed in October 2015 with the loss of five of the nine personnel on board but was replaced in-theatre. During the six-year deployment, the Pumas flew 12,800 hours, while transporting 126,000 passengers and 660,000 kg of freight.