Hail Storm in A'Stan Wrecks 50 Helos

[LongBlade]

I saw this on my phone last week but forgot to post it. A bad storm took out 50 helos. Not good for our guys over there.

As many as 50 U.S. and Coalition military helicopters were badly damaged in a hailstorm at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan this week.  The damage was severe enough that the helicopters are grounded until they can be repaired.

The storm moved through southern Afghanistan on April 23.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/04/25/exclusive-up-to-50-us-helos-in-afghanistan-badly-damaged-in-hail-storm/

[TheCommandTent]

That is unfortunate news.

[Airborne Rifles]

I was here for this!  The hail was golfball sized and bigger.  Completely unexpected too.  The forecast said nothing about any precipitation.  Fortunately I was in a hard stand building when it hit.  I hadn't realized it caused so much damage though...I live about 200m from the flight line and the helos were still coming and going at the same clip.

[GDS_Starfury]

I would think a flying helo would be far less at risk then one sitting on the ramp.  the blades are built to take small arms fire so if their spun up they would just chop the hail to bits.