Wednesday, November 25, 2009 Afghanistan war: Why helicopters are critical to US and NATO forces By FlyingNews @ 10:59 AM :: 248 Views :: 0 Comments :: Military Aviation, Helicopters In one of the worst chapters of their casualty-marred deployment in Afghanistan, Canadian forces earlier this year lost 10 soldiers in 90 days to improvised bombs on one stretch of highway in Kandahar province. Then a US Army helicopter crew stalking Taliban insurgents who plant bombs at night spotted a five-man team, watched the insurgents through sophisticated optical gear until it was certain that's what the men were doing and got permission to kill them. Read the entire article here.