US Faces Helicopter Shortage in Afghanistan

(March 10) -- As the threat of roadside bombs and ambushes has escalated in Afghanistan, U.S. and coalition forces have been forced to move everything from food supplies to mail delivery away from the ground and into the air. That, in turn, has prompted another problem: a critical lack of cargo helicopters.

So desperate, in fact, was the U.S military for helicopters in December 2009 that, even after scouring the marketplace for private companies to provide the needed aircraft, it could only find one firm able to offer the necessary cargo helicopters, according to a military document explaining the contorted history.

That company was Supreme Site Services, a subsidiary of the Dutch-based Supreme Group, a logistics and supply firm. In fact, Supreme Site Services was already operating a fleet of Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters in Afghanistan, which provided about 70 percent of the total contract cargo capabilities for the U.S. Defense Department in the country, according the U.S. Army's "justification for other than full and open competition" document, a copy of which was provided to AOL News.

The Defense Department needed to continue the contract with Supreme Site Services and bypass normal government procurement laws because that was the only way to continue providing critical cargo deliveries in Afghanistan, according to the Army. "The only other immediate option for bridging a potential gap in services would be to divert valuable military assets currently in theater," says the document, which was signed by the U.S. Army's top procurement official at the time.

The nine-page document goes into painstaking details on the lengths the U.S. Army went to in its quest to find available helicopters. Before awarding the original contract to Supreme Site Services in 2008, the Army held an open competition for companies interested in providing helicopters to the U.S. military.

There are a number of private companies that operate helicopters under contract to the U.S. military, including Presidential Airways, which is owned by Xe Services LLC, better known by its former name, Blackwater, and Evergreen. But those companies operate helicopters, such as the Bell 212, which don't carry enough cargo or fly high enough to handle the rough terrain in Afghanistan, according to the Army.

The Mi-17, in particular, is needed because it can carry more payload and fly higher than other available civilian helicopters. It would require 10 to 12 Chinook helicopters or another 16 Sikorsky S-61s to replace the cargo capability of eight Mi-17s, the document says.

In fact, the military's search for available helicopters did not go well, according to the history outlined in the document. The company that was originally selected to provide the helicopters never produced any aircraft, so the contract was canceled. Another contender has since filed for bankruptcy.

That left just Supreme Site Services, which, the document acknowledges, relies heavily on subcontractors to provide aircraft.

Helicopter shortages in Afghanistan have fast become a leading concern for NATO members. In the United Kingdom, a heated debate broke out last year over a parliamentary report that noted a critical shortage in helicopters in Afghanistan. "Only a procurement of new helicopters can meet the original objective of reducing the number of types of helicopter in service within the U.K. armed force," stated the report.

But relying on outside contractors to provide cargo transport is not an ideal solution. Among the problems inherent in the Supreme Site Services contract is that the Mi-17 is not certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is now a requirement for DOD-contracted air support contracts.

Safety of contractor-flown aircraft is another concern. Last year, one of Supreme Site Service's helicopters crashed in Afghanistan while flying in support of NATO troops.

The company, however, maintains that its safety standards are not an issue. "Since 2006 Supreme Group has flown in the excess of 100,000 rotary-wing flight hours within Afghanistan in some of the most challenging topography and environmental conditions in the world," Charlie Szar, the managing director of aviation, told AOL News in an e-mail. "We are very proud that our policies and procedures have resulted in a mishap rate which is far below similar contracts operated by military and commercial operators elsewhere in the world."

Regardless, the Army document indicates that the current contract is regarded as a stopgap until U.S. Transportation Command can buy "in house" capabilities using its own helicopters.

"Our contracting staff is working on the follow-on acquisition that will replace the aircraft services procured [under this contract]," Cynthia Bauer, a spokeswoman for U.S. Transportation Command told AOL News. "We expect to release the solicitation in mid-April."