Hungary and other nations have started withdrawing their forces from Afghanistan and transporting home the materiel and military equipment.

Airlift is the safest of all modes of transportation. As even the biggest European nations do not have adequate capacity available, they provide the airlift assets with the required transport capacity through agreements concluded with civil companies (mainly from the post-Soviet states). To this end, on May 26, the largest airplane of the world, an Antonov An–225 arrived at Mazar-e Sharif Airfield.

The An–225 Mriya is a strategic airlift cargo aircraft, designed by the Soviet Union's Antonov Design Bureau in the second half of the 1980s. It is currently the heaviest aircraft in the world with a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tons and a total payload of 250 tons. Considering its physical dimensions, it is also the largest currently operating aircraft, and there is a lone operational An–225 and a second partially built one. The latter is scheduled to be completed and put into service in the near future. The An–225 was designed to airlift the Energia rocket’s boosters and the Buran space shuttle for the Soviet space program.

At the airfield, many stayed awake only to witness the landing by the huge airlifter. Due to the close to 90-meter wingspan, the airfield had to be closed down, and even with this precaution taken, the external turbofan engines caused a sandstorm. Besides several containers, a 60-ton BPz3 “Büffel” armored recovery vehicle almost disappeared in the cargo hold of the aircraft.

After a quick and well-organized loading, the giant airlifter left Afghanistan in a big cloud of dust. At present three Hungarian air traffic controllers and two airfield logistic specialists are serving at the airfields of Mazar-e Sharif and Kunduz.

(honvedelem.hu)