Three deployed parachutes slow descent of forklift in Afghanistan. Air Force photo by Jeffrey Allen

A US Army battalion dropped an all-terrain forklift from a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft into an Afghanistan theatre of war on 23 November. Three parachutes slowed the descent.

The forklift weights 15,000 lb. (6,750 kg) and has a lifting capacity of 4,000 lb. (1,800 kg).

The drop zone near Forward Operating Base Curry is located in a mountainous difficult-to-maneuver area of Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan. As a secured forward military position, the base supports tactical operations and, in its inhospitable locale, receives supplies only through air drops.

The detachment commander says the equipment was the first forklift dropped from an aircraft during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and was on one of six platforms the base received that day.

After being offloaded from the back hatch of the four-engine turboprop aircraft, the platform carrying the forklift drifted downward, emitted a cracking noise on landing and broke some of the packing material.

The forklift was not damaged and was put into service immediately picking up kicker boxes.

Soldiers from the ninth engineer battalion's B company recover shipments of water, food, fuel and other supplies from the platforms. A contract for the company's materials handling equipment expired on 19 November and compounded daily tasks around the base. Having use of the aircraft-dropped all-terrain forklift reduces the time needed to move the bundles.