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October 14, 2014

U.S. Air Force Questioned for Spending $486M on Planes for Afghanistan, Then Reducing Them to Scrap 
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The U.S. Air Force is facing questions over its decision to destroy 16
cargo planes purchased for Afghanistan. The United States spent $486
million to purchase and refurbish 20 Italian-made planes for the Afghan
air force. But the program encountered what an inspector general called
"continuous and severe operational difficulties, including a lack of
spare parts." So the Pentagon scrapped the plan, and 16 of the planes,
which were converted to scrap metal worth $32,000 — less than a
hundredth of a percent of what the program cost. The Pentagon replaced
the planes with four larger ones made by Lockheed Martin. Special
Inspector General John Sopko has asked the Air Force to provide records
on its decision to scrap the planes, saying he is "concerned that the
officials responsible ... may not have considered other possible
alternatives in order to salvage taxpayer dollars."

 

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