Faced with a lack of modern equipment, engineers at the military airport in Kabul have developed their own equipment so as to service Afghan National Army helicopters. 

Surrounded by an assortment of both Russian and American tools and equipment, these engineers say they service at least 12 helicopters a month so as to keep them in good working order.

The engineers have developed their own GPS, a black box evaluation device and a power generating device for their workshop.

“We did not have devices for control and GPS in our workshop, but we developed the devices with the American and Russian equipment available at the workshop,” said Sayed Naeem, head of the radio and power department of the military airport.

“We had nothing. We started from zero and now finally we can test and make helicopters ready for flight in our self-developed workshop,” he added.

Most of these engineers were trained in the old Soviet Union. They say they carry out more tests on the army helicopters to make sure they are in good working order. 

“The engineers of four sectors work here including engine, power, radio and weapons sectors. Every sector carries on its duty separately,” said Mohammad Yasin, a member of the workshop’s maintenance team.

The workshop was first built by the Soviets in the 1990s but later destroyed in the civil wars. It was reconstructed by the U.S forces over the past ten years.