[(Title)] How an impoverished Afghanistan built an air force in the middle of a war.

Australia has pledged extra support to help Afghanistan transition from older Russian helicopters to Blackhawks, amid warnings that the aircraft may not be the right fit for the country.

澳大利亚承诺提供额外支持，以帮助阿富汗从旧的俄罗斯直升飞机过渡到黑鹰，然而有警告说，这种飞机可能并不适合这个国家。

Russian Mi-17 helicopters are being phased out in favour of Blackhawks because sanctions make it too hard to get replacement parts for the older fleet.

俄罗斯米-17型直升机正在逐步停用，以支助黑鹰，因为制裁使得较老的机型很难找到替代零件。

But the Pentagon's own watchdog has found problems with the plan, saying the Blackhawks can't carry as much or fly as high as the Russian helicopters.

但是，五角大楼的监察小组发现，这项计划存在问题，因为黑鹰不能携带同样多的武器，也无法像俄罗斯直升机那样飞翔。

The Pentagon's Office of the Inspector General also notes that Blackhawks are harder to maintain.

五角大楼监察长办公室还指出，黑鹰更难维修。

For a start, they require literate maintenance crews; a hurdle in a country with one of the lowest literacy rates in the world.

首先，他们需要识字的维修人员；这是世界上识字率最低的国家的一个障碍。

On top of that, all the manuals are in English, so maintenance crews have to learn English before they can learn to fix the aircraft.

除此之外，所有的手册都是英文的，所以维修人员必须学英文，才能学会修理飞机。

At the recent NATO meeting in Brussels, the Australian Government announced it would use its expertise as one of the only coalition nations currently flying Blackhawks to assist the Afghan Air Force by providing aviation advisors.

在最近于布鲁塞尔召开的北约会议上，澳大利亚政府宣布它将利用其专业知识，作为目前唯一一个使用黑鹰的联盟国家，通过提供航空顾问协助阿富汗空军。

Australia already supplies aviation advisors under NATO's Train, Advise and Assist mission to Afghanistan.

澳大利亚已经在北约的培训、咨询和援助下向阿富汗提供航空顾问。

Under that mission, about 300 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel work behind-the-wire, mentoring their Afghan counterparts.

为了完成这个任务，大约300名澳大利亚国防军人员在幕后工作，为阿富汗同行提供指导。

Despite concerns over the transition to Blackhawks, the rapid growth of the Afghan Air Force (AAF) is one of the success stories to come out of the war-torn country of late.

尽管人们担心向黑鹰过渡，但阿富汗空军的迅速增长是这个近年来饱受战争蹂躏的国家所取得的成功之一。

Afghan pilots have gone from flying their first combat sorties to dropping laser-guided bombs within a few years.

几年内，阿富汗飞行员已经从第一次战斗机飞行，到学会了投掷激光制导炸弹。

"We're going to triple the amount of aircraft that the Afghans own and increase their personnel by 40 per cent," said US Air Force Colonel Darryl Insley.

美国空军中校DarrylInsley表示：“我们将把阿富汗人的飞机数量增加两倍，并将他们的人员增加40%。

Coalition airpower was — and still is — critical to combat supremacy in Afghanistan; the air is the one domain the Taliban cannot contest.

联盟空中力量阿富汗打击霸权的关键；空军是塔利班无法对抗的一个领域。

And while the coalition is still flying combat missions throughout the country, the hope is that Afghans can learn to run their own air war.

尽管联盟仍在全国各地执行战斗任务，但希望阿富汗人能学会自己进行空战。

That would bring coalition forces one step closer to buying a ticket out of the country.

这将使联盟部队更接近从国外购买机票。

But buying planes for the Afghans to fly is only half the task.

但购买飞机让阿富汗人飞行仅仅是任务的一半。

"It's really easy to get the aircraft, it's actually the inexpensive part too," said Colonel Insley.

Insley上校说：“购买飞机真是很容易，事实上，那也是较为便宜的部分。”

"The hard part is long-term sustainment, the logistics and the maintenance."

“难的是长期的维持、后勤和维护”。

One of the Australian advisors helping with that is Squadron Leader Craig Page.

澳大利亚的顾问之一，就是中队队长克雷格佩奇。

He's just overseen a group of Afghan maintenance workers building a propeller from scratch for a Cessna which will be used to carry cargo to remote, mountainous regions.

他只是监管一群阿富汗维修工人，为塞斯纳建造一个从零开始的螺旋桨，用来把货物运往偏远山区。

"We give them English training and basic skills along with the maintenance background," said Squadron Leader Page.

中队队长佩奇说：“我们提供英语培训、基本技能以及维护知识。”

"And computer skills — things that you and I take for granted — these guys, this is the first time they've ever seen it," he said.

“还有电脑技能——这件你和我视为理所当然的事情——对这些人来说，却是他们第一次看到它，”他说。

He says encouraging the Afghans to plan ahead can be a challenge.

他说，鼓励阿富汗人规划未来将是一项挑战。

"We've found the Afghans have been extremely competent at the tactical level, whether that's flying planes, building bombs or spinning spanners," Squadron Leader White said.

"我们发现，阿富汗人在战术层面非常称职，不管是飞行飞机、制造炸弹还是旋转扳手，"中队队长怀特说。

"It's that next level up though, which is what western nations like Australia have had the opportunity to do over a number of years," he said.

他说：“不过，这是下一个级别，这就像澳大利亚这样的西方国家多年来有机会做的事情。”。

He says the speed at which the Afghan Air Force is being modernised is astounding.

他说，阿富汗空军现代化速度惊人。

"This would be difficult for any other nation to do at this pace, let alone when you're fighting a war at the same time."

“这对其他任何国家来说都是困难的，更不用说与此同时，这里还在经历战争。