National Security

Accusations dog Russian helicopter deal

By Washington Examiner
Published December 9, 2013 5:00am ET
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Accusations dog Russian helicopter deal
In this April 6, 2010 file photo, Sgt. Troy Bencke, right, points toward Afghan air force engineers as they work on an Mi-17 helicopter inside a hangar in Kabul, Afghanistan. To outfit Afghanistan’s security forces with new helicopters, the Pentagon bypassed U.S. companies and turned instead to Moscow for dozens of Russian Mi-17 rotorcraft at a cost of more than $1 billion. Senior Pentagon officials assured skeptical members of Congress they’d made the right call, pointing repeatedly to a top-secret 2010 study they said named the Mi-17 as the superior choice. (AP File) | Dar Yasin

U.S. military officials insisted a top-secret Pentagon study proved the need to buy Russian helicopters for Afghanistan‘s security forces. But the study actually recommended an American-made rotorcraft, according to unclassified excerpts obtained by the Associated Press.

The excerpts show the U.S. Army‘s workhorse Chinook, built by Boeing Co. in Pennsylvania, was “the most cost-effective single platform type fleet for the Afghan Air Force over a 20-year” period.

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