By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Dec. 19: Nepali Army received two new M28 Sky Trucks provided by the government of the United States of America (USA) amidst a special function held here on Wednesday.
The U.S. Ambassador to Nepal, Randy W. Berry handed over the sky trucks to Chief of General Staff (CGS) and Lieutenant General Sharad Giri in the presence of Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS) Purna Chandra Thapa at No. 11 Brigade of Nepali Army at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
The two sky trucks worth equivalent to USD 150 million.
Speaking at the function, American Ambassador Berry said that the U.S government would continue similar assistance to Nepal government and Nepali Army in the days to come.
“Arrival of these two sky trucks has strengthened capabilities of the NA and this will ultimately save lives, and will be supporting one to Nepal’s responses to natural disasters on every landing strip in the nation,” Berry said.
He said that the U.S. government had always been listening to what Nepal required and had been doing the best to meet the needs of the two partner nations.
The U.S government has termed this assistance as a ‘total package approach,’ and the approach for security grants, communication and real cooperation, he said.
Under the assistance package, the United States also aimed at delivering well-trained Nepali personnel, equipment and training to ensure long-term usefulness of the provided aircraft, Berry said.
Extending gratitude to the assistance, CoAS Thapa said the U.S army and the government had always remained generous to the modernisation efforts both in the military training and other logistic supports.
He expressed his belief that the continued cooperation of the U.S forces was a testimony of strong relations and friendship between the two countries.
These two sky trucks had landed at the TIA on December 8, 2019 from Poland. These PZL M28 sky trucks are a Polish light cargo and passenger planes, produced by PZL Mielec.
He said that the NA had requested the US government to provide four sky trucks and believed that two of them would be made available soon.
The new sky trucks will come into operation for conducting humanitarian response, VVIP movement, relief distribution, natural disaster and parachute jump.
These two sky trucks will remain at the hanger of the Nepali Army’s mid Airbase.
According to Nepali Army Headquarters, the new M28 aircraft can carry 18 passengers and three crew members. The NA has currently seven fixed wing aircraft, including three sky trucks.
Also, the NA has its own 15 choppers and of them a few had already reached non-functioning stage. Each sky truck weighs 4,398 kilograms when it is empty and has maximum 7,500kg take-off capacity. Fuel consumption of these planes is 620 lb/hr.