The last of five German Air Force CH-53 helicopters deployed in Afghanistan for more than 18 years returned to Germany these days. For almost three decades, they were continuously deployed on missions in Iraq (UNSCOM), the Balkans (IFOR, SFOR, KFOR) and Afghanistan (ISAF, RS). The crews and aircraft were part of the Army until the turn of the year 2012/2013 and have been part of Team Air Force since then. Even though the aircraft were regularly replaced, the continuous operational flight operations pushed the technology and personnel to their limits.
“The CH-53 was not built for deployment in extreme weather conditions and operations in the Hindu Kush. The fact that the mission there has been carried out so reliably over all these years is to the credit of our soldiers. All members of the CH-53 community can look back with great pride on the outstanding performance they have achieved,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz.
In Afghanistan, the CHs, which have been flying in the Bundeswehr since 1972 and are currently based in Helicopter Squadron 64 at the Laupheim and Holzdorf bases, flew a total of around 22,500 flight hours. The approximately five million kilometers flown are equivalent to circumnavigating the globe 125 times. However, the CH-53, also known as the “beast of burden of the air force”, cannot yet go into retirement after its return. Until it is finally replaced by a successor model, it will continue to be used for alliance commitments, but also at home to fight forest fires and flood disasters.
