Accusations dog Russian helicopter deal

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.