Published time: August 30, 2013 00:08
US military officials have launched a criminal investigation into an army unit that granted contracts worth tens of millions of dollars to Russian and American contractors that revamped Russian made helicopters, according to a new report.
The Pentagon’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service is seeking
to determine whether army aviation officers made inappropriate
payments to contractors, and if the two parties have improper
personal relationships, according to Reuters. The news was first
reported on Thursday, although no charges have yet been
filed.
The US Department of Defense routinely purchases the Russian-made
Mi-17 helicopters. Those choppers are then overhauled and sent to
the Afghan Air Force, a method the Pentagon claims is the best
way for the Afghan military to assert itself before the final US
troops leave next year.
A recent Pentagon budget allotted approximately $1.1 billion for
a round of the helicopters. Authorities are now examining why the
unit cost for a single Mi-17 has increased so drastically in such
a short span of time, from $10.5 million in 2009 to roughly $19
million today.
Phill Lavelle, a spokesman for the Special Inspector General for
Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), told Reuters the criminal probe is
“in the preliminary stages” and SIGAR “is working with
other federal agencies relating to the purchase of Mi-17
helicopters for the Afghan government.”
Rosboronexport, the state-owned Russian arms dealer, is not
suspected of any wrongdoing, although US congressional leaders
have demanded that the US stop dealings with the manufacturer
because it supplies arms to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Anatoly Isaikin, general director of Rosboronexport, previously
told Russia’s Interfax news agency that Congressional lawmakers’
wariness “is a vivid example of lobbying for the national
industry’s interests.”
Lawmakers addressed an August 5 letter to General Martin E.
Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, writing of
their “deep concern over your support for the ongoing
Department of Defense procurement of helicopters from
Rosoboronexport” because of a “real life risk of both
Russian corruption in these deals and overreliance on a
potentially hostile power.”
The criminal probe, which could doom the Defense Department’s
Mi-17 program, was initiated because of a 2012 audit by the
Pentagon inspector general. The audit found that Avia Baltika and
St. Petersburg Aircraft Repair Co. (SPARC) — independent arms
dealers not under Rosoboronexport’s control — refused access to
quality assurance inspectors to their overhaul facilities.
Military officials were also overcharged for parts and repairs on
the aircraft, breaking a prior agreement.
“As a result AVB/SPARC aircraft overhaul took 12 to 20 months
longer than planned, failed to identify unsanctioned parts that
must be replaced, and cost the US government $16.4 million in
unnecessary costs,” stated the summary of the inspector
general’s report.
The full audit has not been released to the public, but a Reuters
review of the document said the audit “identified questionable
transactions” in connection with AVB and SPRAC.
Republished from: RT