Posted on 08/08/2009 9:36:54 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
More than a year ago, the U.N. dropped the Russian air transport company Vertikal-T from its approved list of vendors after a fatal helicopter crash in Nepal.
Yet NATO continued to use helicopters owned by Vertikal-T in Afghanistan. And on July 19, one of those choppers crashed at southern Afghanistan's largest NATO base, killing 16 civilians on board.
The crash reflects a little-known reality behind NATO's military push in Afghanistan: It is relying on Russian aviators flying Soviet-design aircraft, who are clocking up lucrative contracts in a country Russian troops left two decades ago.
Aviation industry analysts say many of these contractors have bad safety records, and allege that NATO has hired some operators with questionable backgrounds through arms-length leasing deals. These same analysts say governments have outsourced crucial military contracts to little-known companies.
"Normally this would be handled by the military, but the military have been cut back. ... They are plugging the gaps with dodgy operators," said Hugh Griffiths, an analyst at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI.
Spokesman Ari Gaitanis wrote in an email to The Associated Press that the U.N. suspended and removed Vertikal-T from its list of approved companies because of "serious violation of international safety requirements."
But the company responded to the AP that it was dropped because "Vertikal-T could not sufficiently prove that it could comply with the requirements and regulations of the U.N." It added: "There is no mention of safety." Vertikal-T also noted that it is subject to Russian air safety regulators, and recently had its Russian commercial license renewed as an air carrier.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
GRU, its military intelligence arm — believed to have close links with several Russian companies operating in Afghanistan — may also stand to benefit.
“From a GRU standpoint, you have an extremely useful source — low-level but extremely useful intelligence,” he said.
I’d question the safety of Russian planes anywhere, not just Afghanistan.
They are flying death traps.
“american components...russian components...ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!”
Armageddon, peter stormare, 1998
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