Large-scale evacuations of foreign citizens and some vulnerable Afghan citizens took place amid the withdrawal of US and several other forces from the War in Afghanistan in August 2021. The evacuation operations were one of the largest airlifts in history. Over 122,000 people were airlifted abroad. In addition to the military assets employed, dozens of airlines from all over the world are also helping move Afghan evacuees to safer locations. The US had also activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF).
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Following part of the operation on flightradar24.com, a collection of reported aircrafts are shown below (click on picture to enlarge).
Here en route two RAF A400M behind each other tracked from Dubai Al Minhad Air Base to Kabul.
Some numbers about tracked aircrafts
USAF:
- service units, squadrons from: AMC, ANG, AETC, AFRC, ACC, PACAF, SAC, SRS, SOS, US Navy* and CRAF*
- aircrafts: 34 C-17A, 6 KC-10, 18 KC-135, 3 RC-135, 3 E-11A, 2 B-52*, 1 E-3 AWACS* + many C-130/C-130J
Other AF:
- service units, squadrons from: NATO, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, Poland, Turkey, Qatar, UAE. France and Germany A400M were in Kabul but never visible, other like India missed.
- aircrafts: 8 C-17A, 9 A400M, 6 A-330 MRTT/KC-3*, 1 KC-767* + many C-130/C-130J
* didn't enter airspace of Afghanistan
Air Mobility Command (AMC)
Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)
United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC)
Air Education and Training Command (AETC)
Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC)
Air National Guard (ANG)
Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC)
SAC is based at the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) Pápa Air Base. The SAC nations consist of NATO members and NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) nations Finland and Sweden.
USAF RC-135 Rivet Joint
The RC-135V/W is the USAF's standard airborne SIGINT platform.
USAF E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN)
The E-11A, a heavily modified Bombardier Global 6000 business jet, acts as “Wi-Fi in the sky.” It was used circling over Kabul, connecting troops on the ground, communications systems and radios. Before leaving Afghanistan they have been operated by 430th Expeditionary Combat Squadron at Kabul.
US Air Force C-130
Several USAF C-130 flew without code in and out of Afghanistan to Dubai Al Minhad Air Base, Al Dhafra Air Force Base in the UAE and Qatar Al Udeid Air Base.
Air Force Special Operations Command
Four squadrons that presently fly the U-28A: 5th, 34th, 318th and 319 Special Operations Squadrons (SOS). The U-28A provides airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, search and rescue, and special operations missions. At present, the Air Force's Draco fleet consists of 28 aircraft in total. U-28A 04-0688 was tracked when flying out of Afghanistan.
USAF B-52 bomber
On two occasion B-52 accompanied by KC-135 flew from/to Qatar Al Udeid Air Base. As reported by press, the USAF had positioned two B-52 bombers in Qatar to support the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.
US Navy support aircraft
According to Pentagon, it kept the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Mideast to support the withdrawal. It was served by Grumman C-2 Greyhound VRC-30 "Providers" (homebase: NAS North Island, San Diego, California) out of Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar with several shuttle flights. On patrol over the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman was Lockheed EP-3E Aries II 887 tracked.
Royal Air Force (RAF)
The RAF used about 15 aircraft during the evacuation mission, with half staged forward — transporting passengers from Kabul to other cities in the Middle East — and the other planes conducting flights from those cities to the United Kingdom. Over the two-week period C-17s, A400s and C-130Js moving in and out of Kabul Airport. Voyager KC.3 provided flights from Dubai Al Minhad Air Base to Brize Norton/UK.
NATO / Netherlands
The European member states Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and the Czech Republic participate in the Multinational MRTT Unit (MMU) of NATO . They formed a joint pool of nine A330 MRTTs , that carries the national emblem.
Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF)
The QEAF Transport Squadron operates eight C-17 Globemaster and four C-130J-30.
Taliban leader and co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, returned August 17th to Afghanistan for the first time in more than 10 years on a QEAF C-17A flight.
United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF)
UAEAF operates six C-17A since 2012.
Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (THK)
Turkish Air Force A400M and C-130 evacuated people from the Afghan capital Kabul mainly to Islamabad, Pakistan.
Royal Australien Air Force (RAAF)
RAAF reported 32 rescue flights out of Kabul with C-17A and C-130J.
Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF)
The C-130 aircraft and crew completed three flights to Kabul.
Aeronautica Militare Italy
As part of the European Air Transport Command , it is equipped with four Boeing KC-767A , which are used for air refueling and transport. The 46ª Brigata Aerea operates with 50º Gruppo ten C-130J-30.
Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace / France
France ordered a total of fifteen A 330 MRTT. The last tanker should be delivered by 2022. For the airlift out of Kabul it operated A400M transporter.
Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KM)
Royal Netherlands Air Force flew between August 18 to 26 evacuation flights to Dubai Al Minhad Air Base with two C-130 from Kabul.
Ejército del Aire, Spain
In total, the Spanish Air Force has ordered 27 A400Ms from Airbus – of which eight have been delivered to date.
Siły Powietrzne (Polish Air Force) / Poland
PAF operates 5 C-130E.
Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF)
For just the third time in history, the US Department of Defense has activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) to assist with the transportation of evacuees and refugees from Afghanistan. The CRAF aircraft didn't flew to Kabul, but they carried passengers from bases in the Middle East to Europe and the United States.
The US Department of Defense has activated 18 aircraft from six airlines to participate in operation, likely to last a few weeks. Airlines required to provide aircraft include: American Airlines (3), Atlas Air (3), Delta Air Lines (3), Hawaiian Airlines (2), Omni Air International (3), and United Airlines (4).
Charter operated aircrafts
More than 60 chartered and commercial aircraft had flown out of Kabul and airports in Qatar and UAE.
Kam Air, flew regulary during the airlift with its two A-340 from Kabul to UAE.