Kazakhstan Receives Huey II from United States

The United States has handed over another helicopter to the Kazakh Ministry of Defense, in a ceremony held on January 27, 2017.

CENTCOM confirmed in a statement on January 30, 2017 that it had transferred another Huey II helicopter to the Kazakh Ministry of Defense. The delivery marks the fourth Huey II sent to Kazakhstan through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales Program.

The handover included a ceremony attended by U.S. Ambassador George Krol (pictured below, right), U.S. Consul General Mark Moody, U.S. Defense Attaché Colonel Ron Hogan, and Kazakh defense officials. Kazakh Air Force Major Sergey Kokonov (below, left) was one of the Kazakh officials in attendance.
CENTCOM noted that the helicopter was worth $7 million. According to the statement, “The United States donated the airframe and a significant portion of the funding to upgrade the helicopter to a modern Huey II model.”
Ambassador Grol stated,

“We are proud of our cooperation with Kazakhstan on defense issues. Kazakhstan has become an important partner in regional and global security. This new helicopter will enable the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan to strengthen its security and increase its capacity to conduct exercises.”

The transfer was first reported by Kapital.kz, which was informed by the U.S. Consulate General in Almaty.

The United States has in previous years delivered three Huey IIs to Kazakhstan, with the most recent delivery of one helicopter coming in April 2016.

Derek Bisaccio
Lead Analyst, Defense Markets and Strategic Analysis at Forecast International | + posts

Military markets analyst, covering Eurasia, Middle East, and Africa.

About Derek Bisaccio

Military markets analyst, covering Eurasia, Middle East, and Africa.

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