UH-60 Black Hawks for Soldiers of Task Force Sinai on Russian Aircraft

US Army, POPE AIR FORCE BASE: After years of planning, the first five UH-60 Black Hawks for Soldiers of Task Force Sinai in Egypt departed Pope Air Force Base Dec. 2 on a Russian aircraft. 
 
The Black Hawks are replacing UH-1H Huey helicopters being used by U.S. peacekeepers participating in the Multi-national Force Observer mission in the Sinai. 
 
“As part of the Army's Transformation Plan, Army Aviation is divesting itself of the 'legacy aircraft' such as the AH-1 Cobra and the UH-1H Huey among others,” said Maj. Joseph Martini, aviation readiness officer for Corps Distribution Command, 1st Corps Support Command. 
 
The 1st COSCOM transported the Black Hawks to the MFO using a Russian Antonov AN-124 Condor aircraft. 
 
The crew and aircraft was contracted from a Ukrainian-based charter company called Volga-Dnepr Airlines that specializes in the transportation of over-sized cargo, Martini said. The Air Force C-5 Galaxy cargo transportation aircraft is slightly larger than the Condor used by Volga-Dnepr, however, the Condor has a wider storage area and can carry more weight than the C-5. 
 
“Pretty much, the Condor is the equivalent of our C-5,” Martini said. 
 
“The Russian aircrew of the AN-124 was friendly and very cooperative in making sure all of the equipment pallets and aircraft were able to be loaded on the AN-124,” Martini said. 
 
The mission involved more than just getting the helicopters from point A to point B, said Maj. Gen. Virgil L. Packett II, acting commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg who was on hand to review the loading progress. 
 
“This shows us three things,” Packet said. “First that we're moving forward in providing our Soldiers with the best equipment. Second that we're moving forward in our aviation transformation, and third, the level of international cooperation in a peacekeeping mission by moving American helicopters on a Russian aircraft.” 
 
Upgrading the aircraft used to enforce the Egyptian-Israeli 1979 Camp David Peace Accords has been planned for three years, said Chief Warrant Officer John Leake, the aviation readiness officer from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Corps Distribution Command, 1st COSCOM. 
 
Getting the helicopters to Egypt presented its own challenge since only a limited number of cargo aircraft are capable of simultaneously transporting five helicopters a third of the world away. 
 
“Because of the priorities set by the Air Mobility Command, our options for transporting the helicopters were limited,” Leake said. “In support of this national mission, they saw fit to charter an aircraft big enough to get them over there rather than resources being used in Iraq and Afghanistan.” 
 
Without the help of the Russian crewmembers, the loading of the aircraft that took place Dec. 1, would not have been as fast and effective, said Leake. 
 
“I thought they did a fantastic job,” said Leake. “They started loading the Condor at 11 a.m. and they were done by 3 p.m. and it was a tight fit.” 
 
The 1st COSCOM is planning to ship three more Black Hawks to MFO peacekeepers sometime in January, however future use of the Condor is still undetermined, Martini said. 
 
“It has been a team effort with outstanding cooperation between all agencies to make the mission happen,” Martini said. “I look forward to the same level of cooperation in January 06 when we send the final load of three UH-60s to the Sinai.”