




An American-made helicopter, the U.S. Army’s workhorse Chinook built by Boeing in Pennsylvania, was found to be ‘‘the most cost-effective single platform type fleet for the Afghan Air Force over a twenty year’’ period, according to the excerpts.

Lawmakers who closely had followed the copter deal were stunned.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate’s No. 2 GOP leader and one of the most vocal critics of the contract, said the Department of Defense ‘‘repeatedly and disingenuously’’ used the study to prove the necessity of buying Mi-17s.


‘‘So why are we buying Russian helicopters when there are American manufacturers that can meet that very same requirement?’’ Cornyn asked. ‘‘Makes no sense whatsoever and the Department of Defense has steadfastly refused to cooperate with reasonable inquiries into why in the world they continue to persist along this pathway.’’



Just a few weeks after the secret study was completed, Army Secretary John McHugh wrote in a 2011 memo ‘‘that the Mi-17 stands apart’’ when compared with other helicopters.

The Pentagon denies it misled Congress.








‘‘We’re not dealing with a corrupt system. Corruption is the system,’’ said Stephen Blank, a Russia expert at the American Foreign Policy Council, a Washington think tank. ‘‘This is not a world we’re familiar with.’’

Overall, 63 Mi-17s are being acquired through the 2011 contract. It was awarded without competition to Russia’s arms export agency, Rosoboronexport, even though the Pentagon condemned the agency after Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces used Russian weapons to ‘‘murder Syrian civilians.’’Continued...