Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy recently joined nine other senators in appealing to Department of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in reconsidering the agency’s $1.11 billion helicopter contract with the Russian company Rosoboronexport.
For the last three years, the U.S. government has had a sole-source contract with the company to manufacture Mi-17 helicopters, which are later sold to the Afghan army for anti-narcotics and counter terrorism operations.
In a letter addressed to Hagel, the senators argued the contract should end as the Afghan army can’t afford or operator the helicopters and because it provides funds to the Russian government, which “has demonstrated time and again its interests are diametrically opposed to our national security.”
The letter did not mention American manufacturing or whether the contract should be awarded to an American helicopter manufacturer instead, such as Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. A few weeks ago, the Stratford-based company laid off 200 employees, primarily in Connecticut, due to military budget cuts and rising costs.
