Pentagon buys choppers from Russia??????????

  Yes, rides into space now provided by Russia as well as  helicopters!  What the heck, do our own in country made choppers cost too much or are they just inferior ?  No,  inferior is to be used in the process of choosing, not in the choice of product.

Today, U.S. contracts for Russian equipment, used primarily to buy Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters for Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, have topped $1 billion and have almost all been sole-source or non-competitive contracts. They include:

• A non-competed $89 million contract awarded to General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems to buy three VIP Russian helicopters for Afghanistan’s president
• A $322 million sole-source deal to buy 22 helicopters for Iraq
• Most recently, another sole-source contract, which could be worth almost $900 million, to supply Russian helicopters for Afghanistan

The Pentagon’s sole-source buying of Russian helicopters has upset some lawmakers.
Six members of the congressional delegation from Connecticut, home to Sikorsky Aircraft, wrote to the Pentagon to protest the Russian purchase. “Particularly in light of the great commitment the United States is making to Afghanistan, rather than procuring Russian helicopters with unclear reliability and cost, we believe it is only prudent to consider proposals from U.S. manufacturers, employing American workers, with a history of providing the Defense Department with the best equipment at the best value to the U.S. taxpayer,” the 2010 letter said.

Now Congress is concerned.............  I wonder what the cost savings was buying abroad?  Then again, the Pentagon has never been price conscious  have they