US general: Afghan air corps needs years of help

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Afghanistan's fledgling air corps, short on planes and pilots, will be unable to fly combat missions before at least 2013, a U.S. general said on Thursday.

"It's not just air frames that we have to acquire," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Jay Lindell, responsible for helping to build and train the Afghan air corps. "It's obviously the training of the pilots in this close air support role."

The Afghan air corps has 20 aircraft, most of them Russian. It has 180 pilots but only about 50 fly daily. The force is old as well, with an average pilot age of 43, and it has not trained a new pilot since 1992, Lindell said.

The small force now flies mostly training missions.

Afghanistan's mountainous terrain and lack of roadways have hurt Kabul's efforts to extend government services outside major cities. It has also hurt the government's ability to hold areas cleared of Taliban control by U.S.- and NATO-led forces.

Using U.S. and NATO funds and trainers, the Afghan military plans to build the fleet to 112 aircraft, including about 28 attack planes, and to 7,400 personnel by 2015. Pilots will be taught English and sent to the United States for training.

The corps will first fly support missions, such as medical evacuation and equipment transport. By 2013, it could begin some combat missions with U.S. support, helping Afghan soldiers on the ground by firing on insurgent targets, Lindell said.

"We expect they'll be fully operational with a light attack airframe by 2015," he said.

U.S. defense officials say they hope Afghanistan's air corps, once operational, will extend the military's reach throughout the country.

(Reporting by Kristin Roberts, Editing by John O'Callaghan)