Afghani Beasts

[Spinners 15,986]

Ilyushin Il-10 'Beast' - 1st Attack Regiment, Afghan Air Force, 1954

 

In 1953 Mohammed Daoud Khan became  President of Afghanistan and soon looked for a closer relationship with the Soviet Union and, perhaps unintentionally, this soon led to a more distant relationship towards Pakistan which by 1954 had escalated into border clashes over the disputed 'Durand Line' border which had never been amended or ratified since Pakistan's partition from India in 1947. Sensing an opportunity to extend their sphere of influence into the region the Soviet Union quickly supplied military equipement to the Afghan Government including the formidable Ilyushin Il-10 (NATO Codename: 'Beast') which soon became the mainstay of the Afghan Air Force.

 

 

 

 

 

 

N.B. my Afghan roundels actually belong to the 1937 to 1947 era but these don't quite fit the timing of my short backstory and I really dislike the roundel that came later so a bit of artistic licence has been used.