CIA Restored the Mi-17 from First U.S. Mission in Afghanistan After 9/11

The CIA has restored the Mi-17 helicopter that, on September 26, 2001, transported the agency’s first operational team to Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks.

The CIA announced the restoration’s completion ahead of the 25th anniversary of Operation JAWBREAKER. The helicopter has been restored to the camouflage and markings it had during its 2001 flights in Afghanistan.

The helicopter is currently on display at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, where it has been installed as a museum exhibit.

Fifteen days after the terrorist attacks, the helicopter transported seven CIA officers, three crew members, and two Afghan partners to the Panjshir Valley.

The JAWBREAKER team was tasked with establishing contact with the Northern Alliance, gathering intelligence, and preparing the groundwork for a subsequent U.S. military operation against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. It also delivered millions of dollars in cash to support and equip Afghan allies.

The CIA acquired this helicopter back in the 1990s. The choice of a Soviet-made platform came because the Mi-8/17 was widely used in the region, particularly by the Northern Alliance and the Taliban, so the aircraft attracted less attention.

In addition, the helicopter was well suited to high-altitude terrain. During its first mission, the crew had to cross Anjum Pass at about 4,400 meters.

The helicopter was further modified for CIA operations: new avionics were installed, and English explanations were added next to the instruments labeled in Cyrillic. Because it lacked a transponder, the words “USA” and the American flag were also painted on the stabilizers so allied aircraft could identify the helicopter.

Later, the helicopter was assigned the number 91101 in memory of the September 11 terrorist attacks. During the current restoration, it was also given back the number 607, which was used during its maiden flight.

The CIA itself designates the helicopter as a Mi-17. However, Ronald Moller, a former member of the agency’s paramilitary units, noted that technically the helicopter belongs to the Mi-8MTV variant. The Mi-17 designation was used for export variants of the Mi-8 family.

In total, this helicopter carried out 310 CIA missions in Afghanistan, with its last operational flight taking place in 2012. In 2018, it was transported to CIA headquarters in Langley, and the following year it was displayed as a museum exhibit.

Over the years it spent outdoors, the paint had faded significantly, and animals had begun to get inside. During restoration, the fuselage was sealed, and the helicopter was restored to its appearance from the early days of the operation in Afghanistan.

U.S. special operations forces still use the Mi-8/17

The Mi-8/17 was not exclusively an “Afghan solution” for U.S. special operations units. For decades, the U.S. has operated these helicopters for training, operations with foreign partners, and special missions.

For example, the 6th Special Operations Squadron of the U.S. Air Force trained crews to operate the Mi-8 and Mi-17, as partner nations widely used these helicopters. The official history of the Air Force Special Operations Command notes that by 2000, the unit had already received Mi-17 training.

The scope was not limited to a single helicopter. Documents from the 2010 U.S. Congressional hearings noted that the 6th Squadron had four leased Mi-17s, and its expansion called for acquiring two more helicopters.

A separate fleet of Mi-17s is linked to a much more secretive unit of the U.S. Army—the Aviation Technology Directorate, which provides specialized aviation support to U.S. special operations forces.

Satellite images of its base at Fort Justice in 2020 simultaneously captured five helicopters of the Mi-17 family. The helicopters in this unit were also equipped with additional communications equipment, sensors, and armor protection.

In June 2025, a Mi-17 in its distinctive gray paint scheme was spotted again during U.S. military exercises in Tucson. The War Zone linked it specifically to this classified aviation unit.

The exact number of Mi-8/17 helicopters currently available to U.S. special operations forces has not been publicly disclosed. At the same time, open-source data indicates that the U.S. has established a separate fleet of such helicopters and has used them for various tasks—ranging from training foreign crews to supporting special and covert operations.