Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 12:03 am
The Chinooks we are getting this fall are on a lend/lease arrangement. The ones we are buying are a few years away. Deals on renting/borrowing other countries aircraft come with tons of caveats, primarily dealing with the priority of the borrowing nation, and wheather or not the operating country will operate in the hot zones Canadians go into. While the Polish minister dropped into Kandahar for a few hours to make the big announcement, they are having trouble keeping their machines in the air on a regular basis. We just had one take small arms fire into the windscreen and cockpit hitting the pilot in the leg. He landed safely (unlike some Americans the following day) When he was checked out in the hospital, turns out he had been drinking, an activity frowned upon round these parts.