RandomGuy
11-16-2010, 10:50 AM
In its effort to equip Afghanistan's new air force, the Pentagon is getting an education in the shady post-Soviet arms trade.
(fairly long article worth reading, I will just post some selected excerpts-RG)
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/12/how_to_buy_a_russian_helicopter?page=0,0
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/files/mi17.jpg
It's one of the great ironies of the post-Cold War era. During the 1980s, Afghan insurgents turned the tide against Soviet occupiers after learning, with the help of U.S. advisors and funding, how to effectively shoot down Russian helicopters. Now, battling their own domestic insurgency, Afghanistan is in the market for those very same Russian helicopters, and the United States is picking up the bill.
If all goes according to plan, Afghanistan's air force should be fully staffed and equipped by 2016, forming a vital part of the country's armed forces -- and allowing the U.S. military to make an exit. The backbone of the air force will be over 70 Russian Mi-17 troop transport helicopters, far from the most advanced design on the market, but rugged, easily serviceable, and ideally suited to local conditions. The U.S. government is backing a deal worth upwards of $380 million to procure 21 of the new choppers from their Russian manufacturers. But buying from your former enemy is never easy, and the procurement has been mired in bureaucratic infighting and commercial protests.
... (bit on history and politics of US purchase of Russian equipment omitted)...
Despite the obstacles associated with buying from the Russian defense industry, the trade in Russian helicopters and other Russian equipment has only grown since 9/11 as the United States has sought to provide cheap and simple counterinsurgency tools to militaries in countries like Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Since 9/11, the Pentagon has paid more than $1 billion to buy Russian military helicopters for its allies. Over 50 helicopters have been bought for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to date. (Less talked about, though widely acknowledged and traceable through court documents and Federal Aviation Administration records, is that the CIA also has a fleet of Mi-17s registered to front companies. It has used the helicopters extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan, including during the 2001 Jawbreaker mission, when the CIA sent a team into Afghanistan to help cement support among tribal leaders for the U.S. invasion.)
Many people question why the United States is purchasing Russian helicopters with taxpayer dollars, but for those training the Afghans, the answer is simple: It's the perfect helicopter for the country. Rugged and reliable, it was essentially built by the Soviet Union to fly missions in Afghanistan, and it's what Afghan pilots have trained on for years, according to Air Force Col. Creig Rice, vice commander of the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing and the NATO Air Training Command. "Is it the only helicopter for Afghanistan? No," he said, when I interviewed him in Kabul last month. "But is it the best helicopter for Afghanistan right now? Yes."
...
It's not at all clear why the Mi-17s, which are produced in military and commercial variants, have to go through Rosoboronexport [quasi-governmental Russian arms export agency/company-RG] . The helicopters bought for Iraq, and now Afghanistan, have been commercial helicopters that are then converted to military use with Western weapons systems and cockpits. (On a side note, having the Russians install the cockpits would cause headaches with the U.S. State Department, which would have to license the integration.) Sanctions or no sanctions, the Russian government has allowed U.S. companies for over 10 years to buy commercial helicopters and spare parts for the U.S. military, without working through Rosoboronexport. In fact, in a briefing to Congress this year, the Pentagon specifically argued that its purchase of Mi-17s didn't have to go through the Russian arms agency "because this is not a defense export, [and] the transaction does not pass through Rosoboronexport."
For Rosoboronexport, of course, the question is one of money: It would like to maintain a monopoly on exports. More importantly, its commission on the $380 million sale, reported to be in excess of 10 percent, would be sizable.
...
In the end, there is little question that the United States needs to buy Russian helicopters for Afghanistan and that it must abide by Russian laws. But Rosoboronexport does not speak for the Russian government, and to allow a secretive agency with a history of questionable arms sales to solely dictate the terms of a contract vital to U.S. national security would be a serious mistake. Even worse, it would provide unprecedented legitimacy, and even leverage, to an agency that has proved more than willing in the past to make sales that run counter to U.S. interests.
The Pentagon can't force the Russian arms industry to behave like U.S. industry, nor should it. But the Pentagon can and should, at least when hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are at stake, offer two things that the Russian system may not: transparency and competition.
--------------------------------------------------------
I distilled the crux of it. There is a lot of interesting background on the intrigue that surrounds Russian arms dealings, and the, um, unique nature of dealing with the Russians in general that is quite worth reading.
(fairly long article worth reading, I will just post some selected excerpts-RG)
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/12/how_to_buy_a_russian_helicopter?page=0,0
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/files/mi17.jpg
It's one of the great ironies of the post-Cold War era. During the 1980s, Afghan insurgents turned the tide against Soviet occupiers after learning, with the help of U.S. advisors and funding, how to effectively shoot down Russian helicopters. Now, battling their own domestic insurgency, Afghanistan is in the market for those very same Russian helicopters, and the United States is picking up the bill.
If all goes according to plan, Afghanistan's air force should be fully staffed and equipped by 2016, forming a vital part of the country's armed forces -- and allowing the U.S. military to make an exit. The backbone of the air force will be over 70 Russian Mi-17 troop transport helicopters, far from the most advanced design on the market, but rugged, easily serviceable, and ideally suited to local conditions. The U.S. government is backing a deal worth upwards of $380 million to procure 21 of the new choppers from their Russian manufacturers. But buying from your former enemy is never easy, and the procurement has been mired in bureaucratic infighting and commercial protests.
... (bit on history and politics of US purchase of Russian equipment omitted)...
Despite the obstacles associated with buying from the Russian defense industry, the trade in Russian helicopters and other Russian equipment has only grown since 9/11 as the United States has sought to provide cheap and simple counterinsurgency tools to militaries in countries like Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Since 9/11, the Pentagon has paid more than $1 billion to buy Russian military helicopters for its allies. Over 50 helicopters have been bought for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to date. (Less talked about, though widely acknowledged and traceable through court documents and Federal Aviation Administration records, is that the CIA also has a fleet of Mi-17s registered to front companies. It has used the helicopters extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan, including during the 2001 Jawbreaker mission, when the CIA sent a team into Afghanistan to help cement support among tribal leaders for the U.S. invasion.)
Many people question why the United States is purchasing Russian helicopters with taxpayer dollars, but for those training the Afghans, the answer is simple: It's the perfect helicopter for the country. Rugged and reliable, it was essentially built by the Soviet Union to fly missions in Afghanistan, and it's what Afghan pilots have trained on for years, according to Air Force Col. Creig Rice, vice commander of the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing and the NATO Air Training Command. "Is it the only helicopter for Afghanistan? No," he said, when I interviewed him in Kabul last month. "But is it the best helicopter for Afghanistan right now? Yes."
...
It's not at all clear why the Mi-17s, which are produced in military and commercial variants, have to go through Rosoboronexport [quasi-governmental Russian arms export agency/company-RG] . The helicopters bought for Iraq, and now Afghanistan, have been commercial helicopters that are then converted to military use with Western weapons systems and cockpits. (On a side note, having the Russians install the cockpits would cause headaches with the U.S. State Department, which would have to license the integration.) Sanctions or no sanctions, the Russian government has allowed U.S. companies for over 10 years to buy commercial helicopters and spare parts for the U.S. military, without working through Rosoboronexport. In fact, in a briefing to Congress this year, the Pentagon specifically argued that its purchase of Mi-17s didn't have to go through the Russian arms agency "because this is not a defense export, [and] the transaction does not pass through Rosoboronexport."
For Rosoboronexport, of course, the question is one of money: It would like to maintain a monopoly on exports. More importantly, its commission on the $380 million sale, reported to be in excess of 10 percent, would be sizable.
...
In the end, there is little question that the United States needs to buy Russian helicopters for Afghanistan and that it must abide by Russian laws. But Rosoboronexport does not speak for the Russian government, and to allow a secretive agency with a history of questionable arms sales to solely dictate the terms of a contract vital to U.S. national security would be a serious mistake. Even worse, it would provide unprecedented legitimacy, and even leverage, to an agency that has proved more than willing in the past to make sales that run counter to U.S. interests.
The Pentagon can't force the Russian arms industry to behave like U.S. industry, nor should it. But the Pentagon can and should, at least when hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are at stake, offer two things that the Russian system may not: transparency and competition.
--------------------------------------------------------
I distilled the crux of it. There is a lot of interesting background on the intrigue that surrounds Russian arms dealings, and the, um, unique nature of dealing with the Russians in general that is quite worth reading.