I would assume that SF forces could, or will, set up FARPs to refuel the non-AAR helps to enable the last wave of troops and others to leave and reach safe territory?
I am presuming enough troops will be required to hold the pans, taxiways, runway and ATC to stop them being stormed and full of frantic Afghans as the last flights depart - and then Helos to take them out to where TacAir C-130s can extract them.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b...ment-vvmhzn6c5
Biden’s choice: evacuate Afghan civilians or save equipment
US military commanders have only days to decide whether to prioritise multimillion-dollar Chinooks and other helicopters over Afghan evacuees in the last flights out from Kabul before the August 31 deadline.
President Biden’s insistence that
as much equipment as possible should be saved means commanders will have to choose between reducing the number of Afghan evacuees to make room inside the giant C-17 Globemaster aircraft, or sacrifice the helicopters to provide maximum space for those desperate to leave.
A spokesman at US Central Command, which has overall charge of operations in Afghanistan, said it would not comment on the assets it had remaining in Kabul, nor its plans for them. However, the Pentagon has said any equipment left behind will be destroyed.
“Obviously there is a strong bias to be able to get our material out with our people [troops]. [But] if there needs to be destruction or other disposition of equipment at Hamid Karzai international airport, then we will do that and do it appropriately,” said John Kirby, the Pentagon’s press secretary.
More than a dozen helicopters are being used at Kabul airport for security missions and evacuations beyond the facility. They include CH-47F Chinooks, UH-60 Black Hawks and AH-64 Apaches. Three Chinooks were involved in evacuating 169 American diplomatic staff to Kabul airport.
In addition, the US Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, also present at the airport, has its own modified versions of the Chinook and Black Hawk as well as A/MH-6 “Little Bird” light helicopters.
Standard Chinooks, Black Hawks and Apaches cannot be refuelled in flight and have to be transported beyond their range by aircraft. Those adapted for special operations do have midair refuelling capabilities.
The C-17 Globemaster, which in one notable flight carried 830 Afghan men, women and children from Kabul to al-Udeid airbase in Qatar, will play the key role in shipping military equipment back to the US.
A C17 plane can take a single Chinook helicopter, or two Apaches or two Black Hawks. In wartime and emergency situations troops could also be packed in around the helicopters. However, for safety reasons, it seems unlikely that US military commanders would risk that arrangement with Afghan evacuees.
US troops disabled or destroyed large amounts of equipment when they abandoned Bagram airbase north of Kabul early last month. However, all helicopters at the base were extracted.
The only helicopters known to have been destroyed so far in the US withdrawal have been seven CH-46E Sea Knights used by the state department at the American embassy in Kabul.
Those helicopters, belonging to the State Department air wing, along with several light armoured vehicles at the embassy, were disabled or destroyed after the 4,000 staff had been evacuated.