The International Community's Betrayal of UNAMID

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The U.N. expects helicopters performingCASEVAC/MEDEVAC to have the followingcapabilities:• 24/7 reaction time.• Alert-to-take-off time of 30minutes.• Lift capability for four stretchers.• Ability to fly in day/nightInstrument Flight Rules (IFR)conditions.• Minimum range of 550 km (300nm).• Ability to utilise FARP.• Minimum 40-m (131-ft) lengthwinch cable capable of extractingtwo persons.For aircraft performing RECCE missions,the U.N. stipulates that these helicoptersmust have:• 24/7 response time.• FLIR.• Daylight video camera andrecording equipment.• Searchlight with up to 30-millioncandela of power.• Public Address (PA) system.• Ability to forward-deployed for upto three days.• A trained surveillance crew.The U.N.’s specifications for aircraft toperform SAR are similar to thosestipulated for the CASEVAC/MEDEVACaircraft, however these aircraft must havethe following capabilities:• PA system• FLIR• Searchlight with up to 30-millioncandela of power.• ELT compatibility with anAutomatic Direction Finder.Despite the very real need for thesehelicopters and months of appeals forthem by U.N. Department of PeacekeepingOperations, so far none have beenprovided.This paper sets out some of the countriesthat have helicopters fittings the U.N.’sspecifications. It goes on to set out howmany of these are known to be onmission, how many are required fornational use and how many are beingupgraded. From this data it sets out whichcountries are best placed to provide therequisite helicopters to UNAMID.10
2.0 NATO and leading U.N. aircraftcontributing nations’ combined medium lifthelicopter strengthThere are many countries with availablecapacity at the right specification. Thisreport looks exclusively at the capacitiesof NATO countries and leading nationalcontributors of helicopters to support U.N.operations.On paper, the members of NATO and theleading U.N. aircraft contributorspotentially have over 3,700 helicopters 1which are publically reported to have atleast some of these specifications in termsof range and payload (see Appendix). It isalso reasonable to assume that theaircraft have some, if not all, of theequipment specifications stipulated abovesuch as FLIR, winches, machinegunmountings, searchlights, VHF/HF radios,EMT and PA systems.3.0 Existing NATO member states and leadingU.N. aircraft contributing nations’commitmentsHowever, not all of these 3,700 aircraftare available to support U.N.peacekeeping operations in Darfur.Several NATO members already haverotary wing aircraft committed to ongoingmilitary, peacekeeping and overseasobligations around the world. Forexample, France has helicopters deployedto support the EUFOR Chad/RCA(European Union Force Chad/CentralAfrican Republic) mission and aircraftsupporting NATO International SecurityAssistance Force (ISAF) operations inAfghanistan. Moreover, France also hasoverseas commitments in Djibouti, FrenchGuiana, French Polynesia, the French WestIndies and New Caledonia. 2This is also true of Germany, whichreportedly deploys helicopters in supportof the ISAF mission along with aircraftwhich are supporting the Kosovo Force(KFOR) in the Balkans province,helicopters based in Djibouti and aircraftwhich are supporting the UNIFIL UnitedNations operation in Lebanon. 3Greece has at least two helicoptersdeployed domestically to provide anairborne ‘flying doctor’ mobile surgery11
Page 1: GroundedThe International Community
Page 5 and 6: Organizations endorsing this report
Page 7 and 8: UNAMID deployment; no longer would
Page 9 and 10: to comply fully with the U.N. requi
Page 14 and 15: service for the Greek population. 4
Page 16 and 17: publically available information on
Page 18 and 19: 6.0 Political issuesThe problem of
Page 20 and 21: 7.3 DenmarkThe Flyvevåbnet (Royal
Page 22 and 23: deployments do not always use the l
Page 24 and 25: around 15 Mi-8 and Mi-17 aircraft.
Page 26 and 27: support U.N. operations, which woul
Page 28 and 29: 9.0 Appendix: NATO medium lift heli
Page 30 and 31: 10.0 Appendix: Summary of Available
Page 32 and 33: 14 Conversation with EU press repre
Page 34: 47 ibid48 ibid49 Annual Review of G

The International Community's Betrayal of UNAMID

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