The International Community's Betrayal of UNAMID

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7.3 DenmarkThe Flyvevåbnet (Royal Danish Air Force)has a fleet of around eight AW-101aircraft which were delivered from 2007. 27These are advanced medium lifthelicopters which could be ideally suitedto assist U.N. missions. The country isestimated to maintain at least two ofthese aircraft for national commitmentswhich means that around six aircraft couldbe available to support U.N. operationstheoretically allowing for a rollingdeployment of two AW-101s.7.4 FranceFrance has one of Europe’s largestmedium lift helicopter fleets. The countryhas just over 200 SA-330Ba, AS-332C/L1,AS-532UL and SA-365N aircraft spreadacross the Armée de l'Air (French AirForce), the French Army and the Aviationnavale (Naval Aviation). 28 At the sametime, the country has a significantquantity of international commitments;with around three aircraft permanentlystationed in Chad to support the Frenchmilitary presence in that country, this is inaddition to the ten aircraft which aresupporting the EUFOR Chad/CAR missionand the approximately 10 helicoptersbased in Djibouti.The French government also deployshelicopters to French Guiana, FrenchPolynesia and the French West Indies, inaddition to around five machines whichare based in New Caledonia. 29 To maintainthe rolling deployment of these aircraft,the French armed forces are thought torequire a total of over 130 helicopters tosupport around 40 deployed aircraft. Inaddition, the country is estimated to havearound 60 aircraft permanently employedin support of national commitments. Theresult is that the government may nothave much spare capacity to deployadditional aircraft and may only be able tomuster about 10 additional machines toallow for a rolling deployment of aroundthree aircraft.7.5 GermanyLike France, Germany operates animpressive number of helicopters acrossits Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Heeresflieger(Army Aviation) operating around 86 AS-532U2, NH-90 and CH-53G aircraft. 30 It isimportant to note that of the 80 CH-53Gmachines that the country possesses, onlyaround 20 of them are considered fit fordeployments to support militaryoperations. The country has severalinternational commitments. In addition tothe estimated 30 machines Germany hasdeployed for national commitments, theGerman armed forces reportedly deployaround six helicopters to support ISAFoperations in Afghanistan 31 ; around 17 tosupport of KFOR commitments in Kosovo;plus three machines which are deployed to18
Djibouti and around four which supportthe UNIFIL mission in Lebanon. Thesecommitments effectively rule out anypossibility that Germany could deployadditional helicopters to support additionalU.N. operations. However, an upgradeprogramme for the 60 CH-53G aircraft notconsidered fit for purpose for overseasmissions could give some extra capacityto support the Darfur peacekeepingmission, although this could be timeconsuming and the German Ministry ofDefence might not have the availablefunding for such a project.7.6 GreeceGreece operates around 24 EurocopterAS-332C1 and Boeing CH-47Dhelicopters. 32 The country hasinternational commitment deployinghelicopters to support UNIFIL and fordomestic medical services. It is estimatedthat Greece may have up to three surplusmachines which could be deployed insupport of U.N. operations, which wouldallow for a single aircraft to bepermanently based on a rollingdeployment.7.7 HungaryLike Bulgaria, the Czech Republic andPoland, the Hungarian Air Force operatesaround 23 Mi-17 and Mi-8 aircraft. 33 Thecountry is not reported to have anyinternational commitments for itshelicopters and estimates predict thatHungary may have up to 16 surplusmachines which could be deployed insupport of U.N. operations. This couldpermit around five helicopters to bepermanently based in support of such anoperation on a rolling deployment.7.8 IndiaThe Bharatiya Vayu Sena (Indian AirForce) uses around 130 Mi-8 and Mi-17helicopters and is one of the largestoperators of these types in the world. 34However, the country deploys around 30of these aircraft in support of existing U.N.operations globally. 35 These deploymentsare estimated to require around 90supporting aircraft to maintain thecommitments. In addition, the Indian airforce is estimated to have around 40helicopters supporting domesticobligations. Theoretically, this could meanthat the country has up to 63 aircraftwhich might be available to support U.N.operations in Darfur. This could allow thecountry to provide around 20 machines toassist this operation.7.9 ItalyThe Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force)operates around 39 CH-47C aircraft. 36Italy maintains international commitmentsdeploying around six helicopters tosupport the UNIFIL and ISAF missions,although it is thought that these19
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 12 and 13: The U.N. expects helicopters perfor
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 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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