Russia to Fill Iraq, Afghan Helo Orders
October 26, 2009
Knight Ridder/Tribune

Thanks to the Pentagon and most likely the American taxpayer, the skies of Afghanistan will again be filled with the distinctive noise of Russian helicopters.

So too will the skies of Iraq, and the contracts for these choppers have caught the attention of Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.

Shelby fired off a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary William Gates this week to try to figure out how much of the more than $800 million spent buying Russian made Mi-17s was taxpayer funded. He also wants to know why, in particular, the contract for Iraq was awarded without a bid.

Which has Shelby and others wondering why U.S. helicopter makers couldn't have taken a shot at filling these orders.

In December of 2007, a contract was given for 22 Mi-17s to a Maryland defense broker ARINC to enable Iraq to buy the helicopters.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/russi...



unhappycamper comment:

Shelby you ignorant fuck. Who do you think is paying for everything in the sandbox?