Following withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, Washington and London will keep their drones to support Afghan security forces continue fighting against insurgency, Nato's air force General Jake Polumbo said Wednesday.
Present challenges against Afghan air force requires using the unmanned aerial vehicles beyond the end of 2014, Polumbo said.
"It will take time for the Afghan air force to end up as a full operational capability as we call it FOC, and that will take into the end of 2016 timeframe at best, and we understand that. That is exactly how we have partnered with the Afghan security forces, in particular the air force, is to be committed to that duration, to bring on these aircrafts, these training mechanisms, and the like," the senior Nato and US airman said.
The US general added that there are currently 6,000 for the Afghan air force, yet only one percent of them are capable of carrying out air operations.
"The results are showing, not only in the training environment but more importantly on the battlefield, Afghan air force airmen have conducted winner resupply missions to remote Afghan national army locations in Nurestan province in the east, and they have provided direct support to Afghan border police in Paktika, Zabul province in the east, and also down in the south in Kandahar province," he said.
"During recent combat operations Afghan air force helicopters flew life-saving casualty evacuation flights, and they also conducted independent air assaults in the contested areas."
Afghan defence ministry, on the other hand, suggested that dialogues on post-2014 drones for Afghan air force are on-going between Kabul and Washington.
"There are matters that are related to agreements by the Afghan government. On issues related to after 2014, and activities, and other related issues, the government is discussing," said General Zahir Azimi, spokesman to Afghan defence ministry.
Nato has around 300 trainers for Afghan air force among whom a very few number are believed to leave the country after 2014.
The circumstances of drone missions of Afghanistan are reportedly part of the bilateral security agreement between Afghanistan and the United States, the agreement on which talks are yet not finalised.