So far, the Pentagon has spent $648 million to buy or refurbish 31 Russian Mi-17 transport helicopters for the Afghan National Army Air Corps. Military officials eventually want to buy dozens more. But that will depend on whether the Defense Department can get lawmakers to approve funding for these additional helicopters.

 

Senators Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) and Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) are urging the Pentagon to reconsider its plans, claiming the helicopter program has resulted in “massive waste, cost overruns, schedule delays, safety concerns and major delivery problems.”

 

Brigadier General Michael Boera, the U.S. Air Force general in charge of rebuilding the Afghan air corps, says the real problem lawmakers have is with the fact the helicopters are made in Russia, not the USA. Boera adds that the military decided on the Mi-17 because it was specially made for Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain, and Afghan pilots have been trained to fly Russian-made helicopters, not American ones. To switch to aircraft built in the U.S. would lead to higher costs and delays in making the Afghan air force self-sufficient, he says.

-Noel Brinkerhoff