http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1692996BAE = WAR PROFITEERS
Posted by seemslikeadream on Wed Aug-29-07 06:45 PM
BAE brings in a pair of Army contracts
http://www.bizjournals.com/masshightech/stories/2007/08/27/daily5.html A New Hampshire-based defense contractor reports it has won an $8 million federal research grant to develop a power amplifier for the U.S. Army.
A Merrimack, N.H., BAE Systems Inc. site is scheduled to develop a 160-watt gallium nitride amplifier to power communications and radar systems. The grant was awarded to BAE by the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, based in Fort Monmouth, N.J. BAE is expected to share the grant with Virginia-based materials science company Rohm and Haas Co. and the University of Colorado.
In a separate development, a Massachusetts-based unit of BAE reports it plans to develop night vision goggles for the U.S. Army for an undisclosed contract amount. The Program Executive Office Solider, based at Fort Belvoir, Va., commissioned the work, according to company officials.
BAE Systems Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of United Kingdom-based BAE Systems PLC. BAE Systems Inc. is headquartered in Rockville, Md. BAE Systems Information & Electronic Systems Integration Inc., a business unit of BAE Systems, is based in Nashua, N.H. BAE Systems PLC employs 88,000 workers worldwide and reported 2006 annual sales of $25 billion. The largest North American BAE operating group is the Electronics & Integrated Solutions group.
BAE already has an order from India for 66 BAE Hawk trainers, 42 of which are being built there.
Posted by seemslikeadream on Wed Aug-29-07 06:07 PM
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aIVNGXZDbsww&refer=india BAE Systems to Develop Enhanced Night-Vision Goggle For U.S. Army
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070827005480&newsLang=en LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BAE Systems will design and develop a digitally enhanced night-vision goggle as part of the U.S. Army’s Enhanced Night Vision Goggle program. This next-generation goggle will use digital imagery to improve soldier mobility and situational awareness under all lighting conditions and in the presence of battlefield obscurants.
The helmet-mounted goggle will digitally combine video imagery from a low-light-level visible sensor and an uncooled long-wave infrared sensor on a single color display located in front of the soldier's eye. This digital technology will provide improved image quality and will enable imagery to be shared among soldiers, improving platoon effectiveness.
“This program will demonstrate the maturity and effectiveness of digital fusion technology and its benefit to the warfighter,” said Margaret Kohin, Advanced Systems program director for BAE Systems in Lexington, Massachusetts. “Applying innovative technology to help our soldiers complete their missions is an objective BAE Systems stands behind every day.”
The contract is managed by the Program Executive Office Soldier at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
BAE Systems will incorporate its uncooled MicroIR® microbolometer sensor technology in the enhanced goggle. This technology also is used in the thermal weapon sights the company supplies to the Army. BAE Systems has two microbolometer foundries and has delivered more than 50,000 microbolometer-based imagers to date.
About BAE Systems
BAE Systems is the premier global defense and aerospace company, delivering a full range of products and services for air, land, and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. BAE Systems, with 96,000 employees worldwide, had 2006 sales that exceeded $27 billion on a pro forma basis, assuming BAE Systems had owned Armor Holdings Inc. for the whole of 2006.
1692661, $519 million deal to supply the U.S. military with 1,170 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles
http://www.thestreet.com/s/merger-bolsters-bae/newsanalysis/general/10375090.html?puc=googlefi OKLAHOMA CITY -- With its huge buyout of Armor Holdings, U.K. defense contractor BAE Systems (BAESY - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) may have very well gotten more than its money's worth.
Notably, just weeks before that transaction closed, Armor landed a surprise $519 million deal to supply the U.S. military with 1,170 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles. With similar MRAP business of its own, BAE has suddenly burst forward as a new leader in the multibillion-dollar MRAP game.
This story is the fourth installment in TheStreet.com's five-part series examining the top players in the multibillion-dollar MRAP bidding.
"In 2007 to date, BAE plus AH have captured ... No. 1 market share -- ahead of Force Protection (FRPT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and International Military and Government," a unit of Navistar (NAVZ - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), noted JPMorgan analyst Harry Breach, whose firm has investment banking ties to BAE. Moreover, "we believe that further MRAP awards are likely later this year."
BAE demos DSL-esque military radio protocol
Posted by seemslikeadream on Wed Aug-29-07 06:13 PM
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/20/bae_dsl_via_link_16 /
According to BAE, "the demonstration included Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, Voice over IP, mobile ad-hoc networking, streaming video, and imagery."
The share price of BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defence company, has risen 225 per cent.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article2337229.ece Symon Hill, a spokesman for the Campaign Against Arms Trade, said: “We think that most of the British public will object to the idea that these companies are profiting from war. While Iraqi civilians and British soldiers are dying, there are companies profiting from it.”
Accusations of making money from war are seen as unfair by the businessmen who run Britain’s defence industry. While the industry in the United States is loaded with former generals and admirals, British executives tend to be engineers or entrepreneurs. They are not career soldiers and get frustrated when they are presented as warmongers.
Revealed: official passes that give BAE access to the top at the MoD
http://www.guardian.co.uk/baefiles/story/0,,2149644,00.html Incestuous' relationship must end, says MP
Lobbyist among 38 given free access to ministry
Rob Evans and David Leigh
Thursday August 16, 2007
The Guardian
The Ministry of Defence has given security passes to 38 employees of the arms giant BAE, allowing them to go in and out of the ministry's headquarters as they please, it has been revealed.
The disclosure has triggered accusations that the relationship between the MoD and BAE is too close and allows the arms company to exert too much political influence over the government. The MoD is refusing to disclose the names of the BAE employees with the official passes, or why they were given them, saying the information would breach their privacy and security. However, it is known that one has been held by BAE's chief lobbyist, Julian Scopes. The pass gave him access to the top levels of the ministry, enabling him to lobby ministers and senior officials and promote BAE's commercial interests.
BAE - $368 million to build and refurbish naval weapon systems,
http://www.epicos.com/epicos/portal/media-type/html/user/anon/page/default.psml/js_panename/News+Information+Article+View ;jsessionid=1DC948DE7A201E05F88DA8A5F1D73E43.tomcat2?articleid=81859&showfull=false
BAE Systems Receives Navy Basic Ordering Agreement for Weapons and Support Services
(2007-08-24)
By: Copyright Business Wire 2007 , Business Wire
BAE Systems has received a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) from the U.S. Navy for up to $368 million to build and refurbish naval weapon systems, and provide support services over the next five years. Potential orders received under this BOA are expected later this year and will be carried out by BAE Systems' facilities in Minneapolis and Louisville.
"This agreement will give us the opportunity to continue to serve the U.S. Navy and provide our sailors with critical naval weapon systems and support services," said Dennis Morris, BAE Systems' president of Armament Systems.
The BOA covers a wide range of BAE Systems' programs including the transition of production of the Mk 110 57mm naval gun system; the overhaul, manufacture and upgrade of the Mk 45 5-inch naval gun for the Cruiser Modernization program, the Mk 75 76mm gun mount, the Mk 42 extended range guided missile handling mechanism, the Mk 32 surface vessel torpedo tubes (SVTT), and the Mk 36/53 decoy launcher systems (DLS); the manufacture of gun barrels; the overhaul of turbine pump ejection systems (TPES); and work associated with minor caliber guns.
"This BOA demonstrates to us that our employees have been successful in meeting the customer's needs -- and that's our priority - delivering solutions on time and on budget," said Morris.
BAE wins $8m US defense contract to develop GaN amplifier ELECTRONIC WARFARE
http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/NEWS_2007/AUG_07/BAE_230807.htm BAE wins $8m US defense contract to develop GaN amplifier
UK-based aerospace and defense contractor BAE Systems says that its Electronics & Integrated Solutions (E&IS) business in Merrimack, NH, USA has been awarded an $8m contract from the US Army Communications-Electronics Command to develop a 160 Watt gallium nitride power amplifier for communications, electronic warfare, and radar applications. Partnering BAE Systems on the program are materials supplier Rohm and Haas of Blacksburg, VI, USA and the University of Colorado.
The solid-state technology will replace the older traveling-wave vacuum tubes that are currently used to produce high-power radio frequency signals, and are intended to aid warfighters by more effectively disrupting enemy communications and radar signals, while protecting friendly communications.
“DARPA has identified BAE Systems’ GaN technology as an important material for future military applications in electronic warfare, radar, and air-to-ground, air-to-satellite, and ground-to-ground communications systems,” says Dr John Evans, the manager for DARPA’s Disruptive Manufacturing Technology program (through which it solicits proposals to reduce cost and time for production of military components). BAE Systems was chosen from among 40 bidders.
“Using this technology, we can develop systems that are significantly less expensive, more reliable, and lower in weight,” says Tony Immorlica, program manager of microwave device programs at BAE Systems. The first prototypes could be deployed by the end of the decade
Cannon for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program
http://digital50.com/news/items/BW/2001/07/14/20070822005666/bae-systems-congressional-community-and-army-leaders-celebrate-inauguration-of-elgi.html BAE Systems, Congressional, Community and Army Leaders Celebrate Inauguration of Elgin Site
ELGIN, Okla.-(Business Wire)-August 22, 2007 - BAE Systems held a special inaugural ceremony in Elgin, Oklahoma to initiate work on BAE Systems - Elgin Operations, a 150,000 square-foot facility. The BAE Systems - Elgin Operations facility will be built by the city of Elgin in the Ft. Sill Industrial Park, and is scheduled to open in early 2009. Work at the new facility will initially focus on production integration and assembly of the Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) Cannon for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program.
Halliburton allowed our troops in Iraq to shower, bathe, and sometimes brush their teeth with water that tested positive for e. coli and coliform bacteria. One expert has said that the troops would have been better off using the highly polluted Euphrates River. Halliburton has admitted that it lacked “an organizational structure to ensure that water was being treated in accordance with Army standards and its contractual requirements.” More…
5) Halliburton served the troops food that had spoiled or passed its expiration date. Halliburton managers ordered employees to remove bullets from food in trucks that had come under attack, then saved the bullets as souvenirs while giving the food to unwitting soldiers and Marines. More…
http://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/dpc-new2.cfm?doc_name=inv2 Al Jazeera: Trail of the Dove - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iuFyWX3Rz8 Al Jazeera: Trail of the Dove - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jIPMQSpiiE Al Jazeera: Trail of the Dove - Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dclFejuvrwg An exclusive interview with one of Britain's leading investigative journalists and a former insider, the Trail of the Dove reveals the extent of surcharges, commissions and the $100 millon secret fund used by the UK's leading arms firm, BAE Systems, to grease the wheels of the biggest arms deals in British history.
Al-Yamamah 'The Dove' is the name of a series of massive arms sales by the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia. It is Britain's largest ever export agreement, and the prime contractor has been BAE Systems and its predecessor British Aerospace, which earned £43 billion in 20 years.
Both the UK's National Audit Office (report never released) and The Serious Fraud Office (halted) conducted investigations into corruption allegations. Trail of the Dove has also had access to ministry of defence secret documents and ambassadorial official correspondence that shows the level of corruption in the British arms trade.
New Labour - Old sleaze - Saudis and BAE blackmail Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tibaAAS5Zk New Labour - Old sleaze - Saudis and BAE blackmail Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMnIBMm9HBQ New Labour - Old sleaze - Saudis and BAE blackmail Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEwJ72VCrzI NOW WE KNOW WHY:- Tony Blair has defended the government's decision to halt the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) investigation into alleged bribery surrounding BAE Systems' contracts with Saudi Arabia.
The prime minister told the House of Commons continuing the investigation would have damaged the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia.
However, he refuted allegations the attorney general Lord Goldsmith had attempted to block a subsequent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) investigation as "completely and totally unfair and wrong".
It had been alleged Lord Goldsmith had warned officials not to disclose information to the OECD investigation.
Quizzed in prime minister's questions, Mr Blair defended the decision not to pursue an inquiry.
He said: "First of all these allegations are strenuously denied by the Saudi royal family, secondly if we were then going to conduct an investigation then that might last two, three years into these allegations that frankly I think would lead absolutely nowhere.
"What it would lead to is the complete wreckage of a relationship that is of fundamental importance of the security of this country, to the state of the Middle East, and to our relationship with countries in the Middle East."
Mr Blair continued: "I was asked for my advice as to what damage this investigation would do if it continued. I gave that advice because of the huge importance of working with Saudi Arabia on the Middle East peace process, on counter-terrorism, on the situation in the Middle East.
"I stick by that, and the idea frankly that such an investigation could be conducted without doing damage to our relationship is cloud cuckoo land, which after all is the natural habitat of the Liberal Democrats."
The Liberal Democrats have called on Mr Blair to confirm what he knew about the alleged bribery and when -- noting that bribery of a foreign official became illegal in 2002.
Since 1985, BAE Systems has signed £43 billion worth of arms contract with Saudi Arabia. But it was alleged these were agreed in return for payments totalling £1 billion to Prince Bander.
The government halted a SFO investigation in December 2006 and the case has since been investigated by the OECD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWwdJpJkyKg Former Saudi Ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan received hundreds of millions of pounds in secret payments from Britain's top defence manufacturer with the knowledge of Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, according to the BBC.
The payments made by BAE Systems were actually a conduit to Bandar for his role in the multi-billion al-Yamamah arms agreement, Britain's biggest ever export deal signed in 1985, the state-funded broadcaster said it had learned Thursday.
The alleged bribes were said to have been discovered during a year-long inquiry conducted by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), but which was abruptly halted last December after Blair said the investigation was a threat to national security.
The dropping of the investigation also came amid concerns that it might jeopardize a new multi-billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia to supply Eurofighters.
The BBC said that the payments, believed to total more than Pnds one billion (Dlrs 1.9 bn), were sent to two Saudi embassy accounts in Washington, were written into the government-to-government arms deal contract in secret annexes.
Allegations previously made in the British press have also suggested that Mark Thatcher, son of the British prime minister at the time, was also involved in the deal.
The al-Yamamah deal included the supply of more than 100 Tornado aircraft and is estimated to have been worth over Pnds 40 billion (Dlrs 78 bn) over more than a decade.
The new claims, to be made in the BBC's current affairs Panorama programme next Monday prompted the head of parliament's committee which investigates strategic exports, Labour MP Roger Berry, to call for a proper investigation into the allegations.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said that if ministers in either the present or previous governments were involved there should be a "major parliamentary inquiry".
"It is one thing for a company to have engaged in alleged corruption overseas. It is another thing if British government ministers have approved it," Cable said. (more) (less)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=BLOGDET... It's a national scandal that the
question even has to be asked.
Posted by Perry on May 15, 2006 11:44 PM
Report this comment
The problem is not money to buy helicopters/equipment, but procurement. The Defence Procurement Agency has to think of British jobs first, not what is good for our forces. Why else would we pay £30 million pounds per Aircraft for Apaches when we could have bought them straight from America for £13 million?. Save Westland jobs.
Why did we buy Merlin helicopters that can’t hover? When Max weight, when we could of bought a Chinook and Black Hawk for the same price per aircraft, why? So we can keep Westland afloat…
Why do we buy 12 Nimrod Mk4 to hunt submarines that cost £290 million per aircraft, when the initial cost was £100 million each for 24. Keep BAE…
Why do we need 230 Typhoon fighters? When we will only mothball half straight away, we will only have 7 Squadrons approx 100 aircraft. To save BAE jobs?
It’s all incompetence of the high ranks in the forces, MOD and government. Why spend 1 million wisely when you can spend 10 million and move on before it goes all wrong, they are never made accountable. Why else have we 8 Mk3 Chinooks sat doing nothing, when our troops need them in Afghanistan/Iraq?
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:NrX3abZtDMwJ:aaq.a... A Case Study
GIDEP Alert J5-A-07-01 (12/5/2006)
BAE Systems expected to receive 5962-8768401QA with the QP Semiconductor manufacturer identification mark.
BAE Systems received parts marked with Part Identifying Number (PIN)
5962-8768401QA, the Philips Semiconductor manufacturer identification and
date code 0336.
Philips Semiconductor discontinued producing all military grade products in 1997.
Part marking did not include a country of origin mark required by MIL-PRF-38535.
Parts contained die manufactured by Intel marked 1980.
BAE Systems purchased these parts from …
Port Electronics Corp … who purchased them from …
Aapex International Inc … who purchased them from …
Newkoda (H.K.) Electronics Co … who purchased them from …
Chao Yang Hualian Electronic Co … who purchased them from …
Top Twenty Iraq Oversight Outrages Uncovered by the DPC
http://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/dpc-new2.cfm?doc_name=i... October 27, 2006
Top Twenty Iraq Oversight Outrages Uncovered by the DPC
Republicans in Congress Refuse to Demand Accountability in Iraq;
Billions of Dollars Wasted, Our Mission Undermined
Over the last three years, Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) hearings have uncovered massive waste, fraud, and abuse relating to government contractors operating in Iraq. This report presents twenty of the worst oversight outrages, as documented in testimony and evidence presented at DPC hearings:
1) Halliburton billed taxpayers $1.4 billion in questionable and undocumented charges under its contract to supply troops in Iraq, as documented by the Pentagon’s own auditors. More…
2) Parsons billed taxpayers over $200 million under a contract to build 142 health clinics, yet completed fewer than 20. According to Iraqi officials, the rest were “imaginary clinics.” More…
3) Custer Battles stole forklifts from Iraq’s national airline, repainted them, then leased the forklifts back to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) through a Cayman Islands shell company — charging an extra fee along the way. More…
4) Halliburton allowed our troops in Iraq to shower, bathe, and sometimes brush their teeth with water that tested positive for e. coli and coliform bacteria. One expert has said that the troops would have been better off using the highly polluted Euphrates River. Halliburton has admitted that it lacked “an organizational structure to ensure that water was being treated in accordance with Army standards and its contractual requirements.” More…
5) Halliburton served the troops food that had spoiled or passed its expiration date. Halliburton managers ordered employees to remove bullets from food in trucks that had come under attack, then saved the bullets as souvenirs while giving the food to unwitting soldiers and Marines. More…
6) Halliburton charged taxpayers for services that it never provided and tens of thousands of meals that it never served. More…
7) Halliburton double-charged taxpayers for $617,000 worth of soda. More…
8) Halliburton tripled the cost of hand towels, at taxpayer expense, by insisting on having its own embroidered logo on each towel. More…
9) Halliburton employees burned new trucks on the side of the road because they didn’t have the right wrench to change a tire — and knew that the trucks could be replaced on a profitable “cost-plus” basis, at taxpayer expense. More…
10) Halliburton employees dumped 50,000 pounds of nails in the desert because they ordered the wrong size, all at taxpayer expense. More…
11) Halliburton employees threw themselves a lavish Super Bowl Party, but passed the cost on to taxpayers by claiming they had purchased supplies for the troops. More…
12) Halliburton chose a subcontractor to build an ice factory in the desert even though its bid was 800 percent higher than an equally qualified bidder. More…
13) Halliburton actively discouraged cooperation with U.S. government auditors, sent one whistleblower into a combat zone to keep him away from auditors, and put another whistleblower under armed guard before kicking her out of the country. More…
14) Halliburton sent unarmed truck drivers into a known combat zone without warning them of the danger, resulting in the deaths of six truck drivers and two soldiers. Halliburton then offered to nominate the surviving truck drivers for a Defense Department medal — provided they sign a medical records release that doubled as a waiver of any right to seek legal recourse against the company. More…
15) Halliburton’s no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure was the worst case of contract abuse that the top civilian at the Army Corps of Engineers had ever seen. She was demoted after speaking out. More…
16) Under its no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure contract, Halliburton overcharged by over 600 percent for the delivery of fuel from Kuwait. More…
17) Halliburton failed to complete required work under its oil infrastructure work, leaving distribution points unusable. More…
18) Iraq under the CPA was like the “Wild West,” with few limits and controls over how inexperienced officials spent — and wasted — millions of taxpayer dollars. More…
19) Cronies at the CPA’s health office lacked experience, ignored the advice of international health professionals, failed to restore Iraq’s health systems, and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars. The political appointee who ran the office had never worked overseas and had no international public health experience. More…
20) Administration officials promoted construction of a “boondoggle” children’s hospital in Basra, which ended up more than a year behind schedule and at least 100 percent over budget. More…
you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers
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seemslikeadream (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-31-07 12:14 AM
Response to Reply #62
67. Defense Contractors Gone Wild
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/41858 /
The billions we're spending on the worthless F-22 fighter plane is just the latest taxpayer rip-off. When will the military-industrial complex get the smackdown it deserves? Tools
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Also by Matt Taibbi
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There are small news stories, there are really small news stories, and then there is "Defense Institute Head Resigns," a little maggot of a news item that blipped into the "D" section of the Washington Post last Wednesday. 356 words in all, about half the length of an AP NFL game account, and the Post was the only paper in the country that ran the story. So how important could it have been?
Actually, the Post item about the resignation of Dennis C. Blair from the federally-funded Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) spoke volumes about the utter insanity of the modern American media landscape. In a month when Katie Couric redefined the "scoop" as an advance glimpse of celebrity idiot-spawn Suri Cruise, and investigative journalism according to muckraking icon 60 Minutes meant sappy profiles of Howard Stern and Bill Romanowski, it made all the sense in the world that the denouement of a spectacular tale of massive government waste and fraud would go completely unnoticed by virtually the entire journalism community.
The name of Dennis C. Blair became somewhat infamous on the Hill this summer when he became wrapped up in a minor controversy surrounding appropriations for the F-22 Raptor jet fighter. Blair, a former Navy admiral who once headed the U.S. Pacific Command, was until last week the president of the IDA, a federally-funded non-profit research center which provides the government with "independent" analyses of weapons programs and defense legislation.
Earlier this year, the IDA had been asked by the Pentagon to assess the viability and potential cost of a three-year, $60-plus billion Multi-Year Procurement (MYP) of F-22 jets. The details here are complicated, but in essence the MYP proposed as an amendment to the Senate's 2007 Defense Authorization bill by Georgia's Saxby Chambliss would lock the government into a bulk purchase of three years' worth of F-22s, instead of the traditional yearly individual purchases.
you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers
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seemslikeadream (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-31-07 12:15 AM
Response to Reply #62
68. IRAQ FOR SALE
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-66214867273921... UK bribery disgrace in trade with Saudi Arabia:
Edited on Wed Aug-29-07 08:37 PM by seemslikeadream
Translation really unnecessary
UK bribery disgrace in trade with Saudi Arabia:
Former Saudi Ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan received hundreds of millions of pounds in secret payments from Britain's top defence manufacturer with the knowledge of Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, according to the BBC.
The payments made by BAE Systems were actually a conduit to Bandar for his role in the multi-billion al-Yamamah arms agreement, Britain's biggest ever export deal signed in 1985, the state-funded broadcaster said it had learned Thursday.
The alleged bribes were said to have been discovered during a year-long inquiry conducted by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), but which was abruptly halted last December after Blair said the investigation was a threat to national security.
The dropping of the investigation also came amid concerns that it might jeopardize a new multi-billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia to supply Eurofighters.
The BBC said that the payments, believed to total more than Pnds one billion (Dlrs 1.9 bn), were sent to two Saudi embassy accounts in Washington, were written into the government-to-government arms deal contract in secret annexes.
Allegations previously made in the British press have also suggested that Mark Thatcher, son of the British prime minister at the time, was also involved in the deal.
The al-Yamamah deal included the supply of more than 100 Tornado aircraft and is estimated to have been worth over Pnds 40 billion (Dlrs 78 bn) over more than a decade.
The new claims, to be made in the BBC's current affairs Panorama programme next Monday prompted the head of parliament's committee which investigates strategic exports, Labour MP Roger Berry, to call for a proper investigation into the allegations.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said that if ministers in either the present or previous governments were involved there should be a "major parliamentary inquiry".
"It is one thing for a company to have engaged in alleged corruption overseas. It is another thing if British government ministers have approved it," Cable said. (more) (less)
ew Labour - Old sleaze - Saudis and BAE blackmail
Posted by seemslikeadream on Wed Aug-29-07 08:54 PM
New Labour - Old sleaze - Saudis and BAE blackmail Part 1
New Labour - Old sleaze - Saudis and BAE blackmail Part 2
New Labour - Old sleaze - Saudis and BAE blackmail Part 3
NOW WE KNOW WHY:- Tony Blair has defended the government's decision to halt the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) investigation into alleged bribery surrounding BAE Systems' contracts with Saudi Arabia.
The prime minister told the House of Commons continuing the investigation would have damaged the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia.
However, he refuted allegations the attorney general Lord Goldsmith had attempted to block a subsequent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) investigation as "completely and totally unfair and wrong".
It had been alleged Lord Goldsmith had warned officials not to disclose information to the OECD investigation.
Quizzed in prime minister's questions, Mr Blair defended the decision not to pursue an inquiry.
He said: "First of all these allegations are strenuously denied by the Saudi royal family, secondly if we were then going to conduct an investigation then that might last two, three years into these allegations that frankly I think would lead absolutely nowhere.
"What it would lead to is the complete wreckage of a relationship that is of fundamental importance of the security of this country, to the state of the Middle East, and to our relationship with countries in the Middle East."
Mr Blair continued: "I was asked for my advice as to what damage this investigation would do if it continued. I gave that advice because of the huge importance of working with Saudi Arabia on the Middle East peace process, on counter-terrorism, on the situation in the Middle East.
"I stick by that, and the idea frankly that such an investigation could be conducted without doing damage to our relationship is cloud cuckoo land, which after all is the natural habitat of the Liberal Democrats."
The Liberal Democrats have called on Mr Blair to confirm what he knew about the alleged bribery and when -- noting that bribery of a foreign official became illegal in 2002.
Since 1985, BAE Systems has signed £43 billion worth of arms contract with Saudi Arabia. But it was alleged these were agreed in return for payments totalling £1 billion to Prince Bander.
The government halted a SFO investigation in December 2006 and the case has since been investigated by the OECD
More BAE profits
Posted by seemslikeadream on Thu Aug-30-07 12:32 PM
BAE Systems Receives $12.5 Million Contract to Provide Emergency Escape Windows To U.S. Army
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070829005442&newsLang=en MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BAE Systems announced today it received a $12.5 million contract to provide 1000 Vehicle Emergency Escape (VEE) Window kits plus 2,000 spare VEE Window panels to the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) for use on the up-armored M1114 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV).
“It’s important that our soldiers have the best equipment available to keep them safe on the battlefield,” said Dennis Morris, president, BAE Systems, Armament Systems. “The VEE Window is a cost-effective, life-saving tool for enhancing the safety of crews riding in up-armored vehicles in dangerous combat zones where rollovers and accidents are a significant threat.”
The VEE Window is a simple technology developed by BAE Systems that allows crews of the HMMWVs to remove the ballistic windshields in less than five seconds and quickly exit the vehicle during an emergency, such as a rollover or accident. The VEE Window meets current M1114 ballistic properties and will be installed by unit maintenance personnel in theater.
The VEE Window was approved for the M1114 HMMWV following a series of performance and safety tests conducted this summer by the Army at its Aberdeen Test Center. The tests evaluated the effectiveness of the device, as well as the window’s overall structural integrity and operational effectiveness in a rollover or accident-like scenario. The VEE Window kits will be delivered to Army personnel in November.
BAE Systems is exploring VEE Window applications for other tactical and armored vehicles, including M1151/1152 HMMWVs, the Army’s Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, and the U.S. Marine Corps’ Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement and Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle programs.
BAE brings in a pair of Army contracts
http://www.bizjournals.com/masshightech/stories/2007/08/27/daily5.html A New Hampshire-based defense contractor reports it has won an $8 million federal research grant to develop a power amplifier for the U.S. Army.
A Merrimack, N.H., BAE Systems Inc. site is scheduled to develop a 160-watt gallium nitride amplifier to power communications and radar systems. The grant was awarded to BAE by the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, based in Fort Monmouth, N.J. BAE is expected to share the grant with Virginia-based materials science company Rohm and Haas Co. and the University of Colorado.
In a separate development, a Massachusetts-based unit of BAE reports it plans to develop night vision goggles for the U.S. Army for an undisclosed contract amount. The Program Executive Office Solider, based at Fort Belvoir, Va., commissioned the work, according to company officials.
BAE Systems Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of United Kingdom-based BAE Systems PLC. BAE Systems Inc. is headquartered in Rockville, Md. BAE Systems Information & Electronic Systems Integration Inc., a business unit of BAE Systems, is based in Nashua, N.H. BAE Systems PLC employs 88,000 workers worldwide and reported 2006 annual sales of $25 billion. The largest North American BAE operating group is the Electronics & Integrated Solutions group.
BAE already has an order from India for 66 BAE Hawk trainers, 42 of which are being built there.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aIVNGXZDbsww&refer=india BAE Systems to Develop Enhanced Night-Vision Goggle For U.S. Army
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070827005480&newsLang=en LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BAE Systems will design and develop a digitally enhanced night-vision goggle as part of the U.S. Army’s Enhanced Night Vision Goggle program. This next-generation goggle will use digital imagery to improve soldier mobility and situational awareness under all lighting conditions and in the presence of battlefield obscurants.
The helmet-mounted goggle will digitally combine video imagery from a low-light-level visible sensor and an uncooled long-wave infrared sensor on a single color display located in front of the soldier's eye. This digital technology will provide improved image quality and will enable imagery to be shared among soldiers, improving platoon effectiveness.
“This program will demonstrate the maturity and effectiveness of digital fusion technology and its benefit to the warfighter,” said Margaret Kohin, Advanced Systems program director for BAE Systems in Lexington, Massachusetts. “Applying innovative technology to help our soldiers complete their missions is an objective BAE Systems stands behind every day.”
The contract is managed by the Program Executive Office Soldier at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
BAE Systems will incorporate its uncooled MicroIR® microbolometer sensor technology in the enhanced goggle. This technology also is used in the thermal weapon sights the company supplies to the Army. BAE Systems has two microbolometer foundries and has delivered more than 50,000 microbolometer-based imagers to date.
About BAE Systems
BAE Systems is the premier global defense and aerospace company, delivering a full range of products and services for air, land, and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. BAE Systems, with 96,000 employees worldwide, had 2006 sales that exceeded $27 billion on a pro forma basis, assuming BAE Systems had owned Armor Holdings Inc. for the whole of 2006.
$519 million deal to supply the U.S. military with 1,170 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles
http://www.thestreet.com/s/merger-bolsters-bae/newsanalysis/general/10375090.html?puc=googlefi OKLAHOMA CITY -- With its huge buyout of Armor Holdings, U.K. defense contractor BAE Systems (BAESY - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) may have very well gotten more than its money's worth.
Notably, just weeks before that transaction closed, Armor landed a surprise $519 million deal to supply the U.S. military with 1,170 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles. With similar MRAP business of its own, BAE has suddenly burst forward as a new leader in the multibillion-dollar MRAP game.
This story is the fourth installment in TheStreet.com's five-part series examining the top players in the multibillion-dollar MRAP bidding.
"In 2007 to date, BAE plus AH have captured ... No. 1 market share -- ahead of Force Protection (FRPT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and International Military and Government," a unit of Navistar (NAVZ - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), noted JPMorgan analyst Harry Breach, whose firm has investment banking ties to BAE. Moreover, "we believe that further MRAP awards are likely later this year."
BAE demos DSL-esque military radio protocol
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/20/bae_dsl_via_link_16 /
According to BAE, "the demonstration included Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, Voice over IP, mobile ad-hoc networking, streaming video, and imagery."
The share price of BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defence company, has risen 225 per cent.
Posted by seemslikeadream on Wed Aug-29-07 06:16 PM
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article2337229.ece Symon Hill, a spokesman for the Campaign Against Arms Trade, said: “We think that most of the British public will object to the idea that these companies are profiting from war. While Iraqi civilians and British soldiers are dying, there are companies profiting from it.”
Accusations of making money from war are seen as unfair by the businessmen who run Britain’s defence industry. While the industry in the United States is loaded with former generals and admirals, British executives tend to be engineers or entrepreneurs. They are not career soldiers and get frustrated when they are presented as warmongers.
Revealed: official passes that give BAE access to the top at the MoD
http://www.guardian.co.uk/baefiles/story/0,,2149644,00.html Incestuous' relationship must end, says MP
Lobbyist among 38 given free access to ministry
Rob Evans and David Leigh
Thursday August 16, 2007
The Guardian
The Ministry of Defence has given security passes to 38 employees of the arms giant BAE, allowing them to go in and out of the ministry's headquarters as they please, it has been revealed.
The disclosure has triggered accusations that the relationship between the MoD and BAE is too close and allows the arms company to exert too much political influence over the government. The MoD is refusing to disclose the names of the BAE employees with the official passes, or why they were given them, saying the information would breach their privacy and security. However, it is known that one has been held by BAE's chief lobbyist, Julian Scopes. The pass gave him access to the top levels of the ministry, enabling him to lobby ministers and senior officials and promote BAE's commercial interests.
BAE - $368 million to build and refurbish naval weapon systems,
http://www.epicos.com/epicos/portal/media-type/html/use ... ;jsessionid=1DC948DE7A201E05F88DA8A5F1D73E43.tomcat2?articleid=81859&showfull=false
BAE Systems Receives Navy Basic Ordering Agreement for Weapons and Support Services
(2007-08-24)
By: Copyright Business Wire 2007 , Business Wire
BAE Systems has received a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) from the U.S. Navy for up to $368 million to build and refurbish naval weapon systems, and provide support services over the next five years. Potential orders received under this BOA are expected later this year and will be carried out by BAE Systems' facilities in Minneapolis and Louisville.
"This agreement will give us the opportunity to continue to serve the U.S. Navy and provide our sailors with critical naval weapon systems and support services," said Dennis Morris, BAE Systems' president of Armament Systems.
The BOA covers a wide range of BAE Systems' programs including the transition of production of the Mk 110 57mm naval gun system; the overhaul, manufacture and upgrade of the Mk 45 5-inch naval gun for the Cruiser Modernization program, the Mk 75 76mm gun mount, the Mk 42 extended range guided missile handling mechanism, the Mk 32 surface vessel torpedo tubes (SVTT), and the Mk 36/53 decoy launcher systems (DLS); the manufacture of gun barrels; the overhaul of turbine pump ejection systems (TPES); and work associated with minor caliber guns.
"This BOA demonstrates to us that our employees have been successful in meeting the customer's needs -- and that's our priority - delivering solutions on time and on budget," said Morris.
BAE wins $8m US defense contract to develop GaN amplifier ELECTRONIC WARFARE
http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/NEWS_2007/AUG_07/BAE_230807.htm BAE wins $8m US defense contract to develop GaN amplifier
UK-based aerospace and defense contractor BAE Systems says that its Electronics & Integrated Solutions (E&IS) business in Merrimack, NH, USA has been awarded an $8m contract from the US Army Communications-Electronics Command to develop a 160 Watt gallium nitride power amplifier for communications, electronic warfare, and radar applications. Partnering BAE Systems on the program are materials supplier Rohm and Haas of Blacksburg, VI, USA and the University of Colorado.
The solid-state technology will replace the older traveling-wave vacuum tubes that are currently used to produce high-power radio frequency signals, and are intended to aid warfighters by more effectively disrupting enemy communications and radar signals, while protecting friendly communications.
“DARPA has identified BAE Systems’ GaN technology as an important material for future military applications in electronic warfare, radar, and air-to-ground, air-to-satellite, and ground-to-ground communications systems,” says Dr John Evans, the manager for DARPA’s Disruptive Manufacturing Technology program (through which it solicits proposals to reduce cost and time for production of military components). BAE Systems was chosen from among 40 bidders.
“Using this technology, we can develop systems that are significantly less expensive, more reliable, and lower in weight,” says Tony Immorlica, program manager of microwave device programs at BAE Systems. The first prototypes could be deployed by the end of the decade
Cannon for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program
http://digital50.com/news/items/BW/2001/07/14/20070822005666/bae-systems-congressional-community-and-army-leaders-celebrate-inauguration-of-elgi.html BAE Systems, Congressional, Community and Army Leaders Celebrate Inauguration of Elgin Site
ELGIN, Okla.-(Business Wire)-August 22, 2007 - BAE Systems held a special inaugural ceremony in Elgin, Oklahoma to initiate work on BAE Systems - Elgin Operations, a 150,000 square-foot facility. The BAE Systems - Elgin Operations facility will be built by the city of Elgin in the Ft. Sill Industrial Park, and is scheduled to open in early 2009. Work at the new facility will initially focus on production integration and assembly of the Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) Cannon for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-rieckhoff/dirty-wate... Dirty Water: KBR Negligence Threatens Troops
Posted March 16, 2006 | 03:51 PM (EST)
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"KBR had exposed the entire camp to water twice as contaminated as raw water from the Euphrates River. KBR was apparently taking the waste water... which should have been dumped back in the river, and using that as the non-potable water supply. Such problems had been happening for more than a year... No trained water treatment specialist could claim that the water was fit for human use."
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That's from Senate testimony of a former Halliburton employee, Ben Carter, a water purification specialist. He's talking about water purification at Camp Ar Ramadi, home to thousands of US Troops in Iraq. Ben Carter tried to sound the alarm back in March of 2005, telling his higher-ups at KBR that they were leaving the water supply "vulnerable to contamination from dust, insects, rodents, or even enemy attack," but KBR wasn't interested in admitting the severity of the problem to the Troops who had been affected.
Today, an AP story shows that the problem wasn't just at Camp Ar Ramadi. KBR allowed dangerously polluted water to reach US Troops throughout Iraq. Wil Granger, one of the KBR whistleblowers, says, "This event should be considered a 'near miss' as the consequences of these actions could have been very severe resulting in mass sickness or death."
And people did get sick. Ben Carter was diagnosed with an "unidentified organism" in his digestive tract, and some Troops have complained of stomach problems, as well. From Marissa Sousa, Iraq veteran:
"The whole time I was in Iraq I had extreme gastrointestinal problems, that the medics had no idea what it was and the medications they gave never worked. I wasn't until I left Iraq that the bigger 'problems' diminished and I was left with occasional cramping and indigestion. I feel that if I had known earlier, this could have been prevented and I could have taken measures that I didn't have to use because I was being taken care of, such as hand sanitizer instead of soap and luke warm water at the DFAC. All of this would make the average person upset at this news, but to me and possibly others that served in Iraq, this is nothing new. If it isn't one thing it is another. Crappy armor, crappy water. Halliburton has become the slumlord of Iraq."
Cheney's Halliburton stock options rose 3,281% last year, senator finds
Posted by seemslikeadream on Fri Aug-31-07 12:27 AM
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Cheneys_stock_options_rose_3281_last_1011.html An analysis released by a Democratic senator found that Vice President Dick Cheney's Halliburton stock options have risen 3,281 percent in the last year, RAW STORY can reveal.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) asserts that Cheney's options -- worth $241,498 a year ago -- are now valued at more than $8 million. The former CEO of the oil and gas services juggernaut, Cheney has pledged to give proceeds to charity.
Private Warriors
Posted by seemslikeadream on Fri Aug-31-07 12:49 AM
http://media.pbs.org/asxgen/general/windows/media4/frontline/2315/windows/ch2_hi.wmv.asx http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/view /
CHAPTER TWO
Citizens In a Combat Zone
The brutal killings of four Blackwater contractor brings home the daily dangers contractors face. It also raises the issue of regulating a private security force of tens of thousands that is not part of the military command structure.
In "Private Warriors," FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith travels throughout Kuwait and Iraq to give viewers an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at companies like Kellogg, Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, and its civilian army. KBR has 50,000 employees in Iraq and Kuwait that run U.S. military supply lines and operate U.S. military bases. KBR is also the largest contractor in Iraq, providing the Army with $11.84 billion dollars in services since 2002.
Historically, there is nothing new about the military's use of private contractors, but the Iraq war has seen outsourcing on an unprecedented scale. The policy change came after the Cold War when the Pentagon was downsizing under then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. Cheney first hired Halliburton as a consultant and later became the company's president. Halliburton subsidiary KBR is now one of the largest recipients of government contracts.
FRONTLINE visits the biggest Halliburton/KBR run base, Camp Anaconda, in the Sunni triangle. Behind concrete walls 28,000 soldiers and 8,000 civilians live in bases that offer Taekwondo and Salsa lessons, movie theatres, fast food courts, and four meals a day. The amenities are impressive, but some argue that there is a price to pay. Says a former base commander Marine Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, "it's misguided luxury … somebody's risking their lives to deliver that luxury."
And while KBR was glad to provide Smith with a tour of the facilities, they weren't able or willing to answer some basic questions about how much certain services -- like feeding the troops -- cost. Smith eventually finds some answers from the Army base commander, but numerous audits are underway to determine just how the contracts are being fulfilled. In response to allegations of overcharging in the tens of millions of dollars, KBR's Vice President of Worldwide Military Affairs, Paul Cerjan says, "the only thing we can do is stand up and give a true and honest evaluation of what we've done. … And let whoever is making the assessment make the assessment. We are not afraid of that process."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3101962&mesg_id=3109106 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3101962&mesg_id=3110384 http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003662.php As for Armor Holdings -- which, by the way, is being purchased by the much-investigated BAE Systems -- one subsidiary, Simula Aerospace and Defense Group, delivered to TACOM armor kits with "missing and unusable components" and missed several shipment deadlines, resulting in "increasing risk to the lives of soldiers." According to the IG report, Simula didn't qualify under the Federal Acquisition Regulation as a "responsible prospective contractor," but it got its contracts anyway.
The armor kits went to vehicles in particular danger to insurgents in Iraq, such as Humvees, and to IED-response vehicles like the JERRV and the Buffalo. Marine Corps and counter-IED officials claimed that they awarded the contracts based on "market research" demonstrating the superiority of Force Protection to provide the armor, but couldn't supply any such research to IG investigators.
In some cases, contracts were awarded to FP months before the results of testing on the vehicles' armor requirements was even available. The Armor Holdings subsidiary Simula didn't have adequate production capabilities or quality controls in place -- something the responsible TACOM official didn't bother to check before she awarded Simula its contract. As a result, Simula missed numerous shipping deadlines, delivered armor kits that covered only the left-hand-side of Humvee doors, and didn't even deliver sufficient "nuts, bolts and other hardware" for installing the armor that did make it to Iraq.
One thing the report doesn't establish is why these two companies got such lucrative contracts when they were both so clearly sub-par and competing suppliers existed. But Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), who ordered the IG report, said today that she still needs to know "why military officials who were aware of other competitors were overruled," and she's calling on the Oversight and Armed Services committees in the House to hold hearings on the contracts
1710142, BAE Radar Love: Robbing the Cradle to Pay War Profiteers
Posted by seemslikeadream on Fri Aug-31-07 09:57 PM
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012707D.shtml And BAE's voice echoes loudly across the ocean as well. As we noted here last month, BAE has become one of the top 10 US military firms as well, through its acquisitions during the ever-profitable "war on terror" - including transactions with the Carlyle Group, the former corporate perch of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush and still the current home of the family fixer, James Baker.
The new SFO evidence comes from the same Swiss banks where they were tracking down almost $2 billion in hush-hush slush funds that BAE had allegedly set aside for Saudi royals to win their continuing approval for a mammoth arms deal called, with cynical irony, "al-Yamanah" (Arabic for "the dove"). This cozy arrangement for fighter planes and other military aircraft and servicing has been going on for 18 years, and has been worth almost $80 billion for BAE so far. But first the Guardian, then SFO investigators, found evidence that BAE had used the secret stash to supply Saudi princes - every bit the equal of Bush and Blair in public piety - with luxury apartments, sumptuous holidays, designer cars (including a gold-plated Rolls-Royce, the Times reports), comely female companionship and other perks to keep them sweet on the deal. When the SFO at last gained entry to the inner sanctums of Swiss bankery, where the high and mighty (not to mention the down and dirty) have hid so many dark secrets for so many years, they also began looking into evidence that top BAE executives might have been dipping into the slush fund for various amenities as well.
Unfortunately, the probe was running parallel with high-wire negotiations for a $12 billion augmentation of al-Yamanah, with a new round of BAE-built fighter jets on the line. The Saudis, tired of the embarrassing revelations, played hardball, threatening to end all cooperation in the terror war or even cut diplomatic ties with Britain if the investigation was not quashed. Dick Cheney also weighed in, reportedly telling Tony that he needed to can all this "enforcement of the law" malarkey from the SFO and keep the Saudis happy. The dutiful PM then had his dutiful attorney general - his lifelong pal Peter Goldsmith, whom Blair had elevated to the House of Lords - make an unprecedented ruling to kill the investigation stone-dead. (Goldsmith, of course, is most famous for telling Blair that an invasion of Iraq would probably be illegal, in several different ways - then suddenly changing his mind after a "consultation" with the boys in the White House not long before the "shock and awe" began. Guess they made him an offer he couldn't refuse.)
Although the stench of the child-robbing Tanzanian deal has long lingered over a Blair government that came into office promising an "ethical foreign policy," it is only now that evidence of actual criminality is emerging. The SFO found that BAE had paid secret "commissions" of $12 million to a pair of Tanzanian middlemen who brokered the deal. The brokers received a more public $400,000 fee for the transaction, which is considered a "legitimate" rake-off in the arms-peddling world. But they deposited the $12 million in a Swiss bank account of one of BAE's many off-shore, tax-dodge front companies, Red Diamond.
One of the Tanzanian agents, Sailesh Vithlani, acknowledged the existence of the fund, but denied that he had used any of it to pay Tanzanian officials. When asked if he'd passed any of the cash to "third parties outside Tanzania" - such as, say, BAE executives or UK government officials - Vithlani chose a prudent silence. "When the UK police traveled to Tanzania ... we answered all their questions," he told the Guardian. BAE's chairman at the time of the deal, Sir Dick Evans, has been questioned by the SFO in the probe, the paper added.
BAE Systems is the 4th biggest arms company in the world.
Posted by seemslikeadream on Fri Aug-31-07 10:00 PM
http://www.wri-irg.org/pubs/warprof-0606.htm AGM protest...
BAE Systems
As Campaign Against Arms Trade reports....
BAE Systems is the 4th biggest arms company in the world. Each year it sells around £11 billion of arms around the globe.
These weapons are sold indiscriminately to a wide customer base - to regimes with appalling human rights records, regions involved in devastating conflicts, and impoverished countries with huge development needs.
CAAT holds a number of 'token shares' in BAE Systems which enables them to attend the company's Annual General Meeting and challenge it about its deadly trade. In May 2006, around 40 CAAT supporters attended the AGM and dominated questions to the company's board members on a number of issues.
Supporters challenged the company on its continued contribution to conflict and human rights abuses around the world - particularly by supplying arms and services to Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. One shareholder highlighted the fact that around 80% of victims in conflict are civilians; another asked the chair directly whether he empathised with victims who have been maimed or killed by BAE products.
The Chairman, Dick Olver, replied by saying that he believe that 'BAE supplies products to make the world a safer place' and that 'the people in the company are proud of their contribution to stability in the world'.>
BAE Systems is the 4th biggest arms company in the world.
http://www.wri-irg.org/pubs/warprof-0606.htm AGM protest...
BAE Systems
As Campaign Against Arms Trade reports....
BAE Systems is the 4th biggest arms company in the world. Each year it sells around £11 billion of arms around the globe.
These weapons are sold indiscriminately to a wide customer base - to regimes with appalling human rights records, regions involved in devastating conflicts, and impoverished countries with huge development needs.
CAAT holds a number of 'token shares' in BAE Systems which enables them to attend the company's Annual General Meeting and challenge it about its deadly trade. In May 2006, around 40 CAAT supporters attended the AGM and dominated questions to the company's board members on a number of issues.
Supporters challenged the company on its continued contribution to conflict and human rights abuses around the world - particularly by supplying arms and services to Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. One shareholder highlighted the fact that around 80% of victims in conflict are civilians; another asked the chair directly whether he empathised with victims who have been maimed or killed by BAE products.
The Chairman, Dick Olver, replied by saying that he believe that 'BAE supplies products to make the world a safer place' and that 'the people in the company are proud of their contribution to stability in the world'.>
you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers
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seemslikeadream (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-31-07 10:11 PM
Response to Reply #163
167. ^^^^^^^^^^northzax ^^^^^^^^^^^^
Edited on Fri Aug-31-07 10:12 PM by seemslikeadream
to regimes with appalling human rights records, regions involved in devastating conflicts, and impoverished countries with huge development needs.
you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers
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seemslikeadream (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-31-07 10:02 PM
Response to Original message
165. BAE System's Dirty Dealings
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=9008 It sounds like the stuff of pulp fiction: The UK's largest armaments producer running a £20 million ($33.4 million) slush fund to finance prostitutes, gambling trips, yachts, sports cars, and more for its most important clients the Saudi royal family and their intermediaries, greasing the wheels of the largest business deal in UK history. These are the accusations made last month by a former employee of weapons giant BAE Systems. And evidence has surfaced that members of the British government were aware of the bribe arrangement, but looked the other way.
BAE Systems, formerly known as British Aerospace, is one of the world's top arms producers. It manufactures warplanes, avionics, submarines, surface ships, radar, electronics, and guided weapons systems, generating annual sales of £12 billion ($20 billion) in 130 countries. The arms giant was formed as a nationalized British defense corporation in 1977, which was subsequently privatized in the early 1980s, and changed its name to BAE when British Aerospace merged with Marconi Electronic Systems in 1999.
BAE Systems' North American branch has an unusual special relationship with the Pentagon where it is treated as a domestic arms company. According to Ian Prichard of the British Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), "BAES North America appears to be virtually a separate company - even top UK executives are not privy to the more sensitive work carried out by 'their' company in the US."
For years the company has been accused of selling arms to impoverished and dictatorial regimes, polluting the environment, and has been dogged for years by allegations of corrupt dealings.
Now those allegations have exploded into the open. Revelations point to BAE's provision of enticements to the Saudis over a fifteen year period, starting in the late 1980s, using a front company Robert Lee International (RLI), to divert funds to the arms clients and their middlemen. Among other allegations, RLI procured prostitutes for visiting Saudi officials and bought houses for mistresses, while an internal BAE statement reportedly refers to "sex and bondage with Saudi princes". According to documents published by The Guardian, the British government's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) alerted the Ministry of Defense of the possible involvement of BAE's chairman Sir Richard Evans in the bribe scheme, but the Ministry of Defense did nothing.
BAE Systems' chief executive Mike Turner didn't deny the slush fund charges. At a press conference following the revelations, he stated, "They are old allegations and they are old hat. They are history." Turner added, "Everything we do is legal and that is all I am prepared to say. Whatever the law is, we are legal."
you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers
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seemslikeadream (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-31-07 10:16 PM
Response to Reply #165
168. ^^^^^^^^^^Nihil^^^^^^^^^^^^
Earlier this year, Friends of the Earth UK launched a campaign against BAE's production of depleted uranium shells which have been used by British soldiers in Iraq. Hannah Griffiths, corporate campaigner at Friends of the Earth UK, said: "We want the directors of companies like BAE to take their duties to communities and the environment as seriously as they do their duties to the company's bottom line".
The Campaign Against Arms Trade has also been targeting BAE with protests at 40 sites all across England, Wales and Scotland that belong to BAE or its subsidiaries, accusing BAE of fanning the flames of war.
Meanwhile BAE has also targeted CAAT. The Sunday Times (London) revealed in September that BAE paid a private intelligence firm £120,000 a year to infiltrate and spy on CAAT over a four year period in the 1990s. The head of the firm told BAE that she had a database containing more than 148,000 names and addresses of arms trade and peace activists, environmentalists and union members. CAAT issued a statement denouncing BAE's actions. "The alleged theft of the supporter database, by copying it, is illegal and entirely unacceptable. CAAT is considering how to pursue the allegation," it said.
you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers
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Nihil (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-03-07 07:03 AM
Response to Reply #168
181. xxxxxxx seemslikeadream xxxxxxx
Still nothing about war profiteering then?
As stated several times upthread, I do not dispute that BAe are
arms traders nor that they have the same attitude to bribery
(and protestors) as all of their competitors.
The only thing that I keep calling you on is your repeated
(false) claim that they are "war profiteers".
Ah well, maybe one day ...
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seemslikeadream (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-31-07 10:25 PM
Response to Original message
170. BAE Systems' Subsidiaries and Dirty Partners
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/corporate/dd/bae.ht... BAE Systems' Subsidiaries and Dirty Partners
There are hundreds of joint ventures and projects between BAE Systems and other companies.
Airbus Integrated Company (AIC): BAE Systems currently holds a 20 per cent interest in AIC. AIC develops and manufactures the company’s fleet of short, medium, long and very long-range airliners for sale to airlines around the world.
Alenia Marconi Systems: BAE Systems holds a 50% share in the company with the other 50% share belonging to Finmeccanica of Italy. The company is a major force in European defence and electronics.
It has a turnover of over 1.9 bn. Alenia Marconi Systems has an established international customer base in over 100 countries.
Astrium: Astrium is the largest space company in Europe. BAE Systems has 25% of the shares while the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company owns 75% of the shares. Astrium specialises in science programs, civil and military Earth observation and communications satellites and ground systems, navigation constellations, launchers and space infrastructure.
BAE Systems Canada: Most of BAE Systems Canada is owned by BAE Systems. The company produces both commercial and military avionics products, including flight management systems based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for manufacturers like Boeing, for installation and retrofitting on airlines. The U.S. Marines and Army are also customers for products such as line-of-sight and high frequency tactical radios.
BAE Systems Cincinnati Electronic Corporation is a US subsidiary of BAE Systems Canada, which produces infrared missile warning systems and surveillance cameras. (Mason, Ohio).
Northstar designs, manufactures and produces marine navigation systems including marine, avionics, and other land-based positioning equipment. (Acton, Massachusetts)
NovAtel Inc. is a subsidiary of BAE Systems Canada based in Calgary, Alberta. Its products are used principally for applications in high-end markets such as surveying, GIS, aviation, marine, mining, machine control, agriculture and precise timing. In 1998, BAE Systems Canada Inc. purchased 58.3% of NovAtel's shares, becoming a majority shareholder.
European Industry Lobby, EUROSPACE: Eurospace was created in 1961, at the dawn of the European space era, as the organization of the European Space Industry. It is an international non-profit association whose members are the main European industrial space companies.
RO Defence: "Global Footprint Operations" - RO Defence is an international business supplying weapons and technology to more than 50 countries, and is a major supplier to both the U.K. and U.S. armies. RO Defence focuses on weapons systems, munitions, rocket motors and small arms ammunition. The unit even provides training, testing and logistic services for all of its products.
STN Atlas: BAE Systems has a 49 % stake in the company. It is one of the leading German companies in the field of defence electronics and systems engineering. It specialises in naval systems, simulation systems, land systems and airborne systems divisions
SAAB AB: BAE Systems announced a 35% share in SAAB AB in April 1998. SAAB ABs' main operations focus on defence, aviation and space. SAAB AB is the maker's of the Gripen aircraft, which BAE Systems is marketing, especially to South Africa and Eastern Europe.
Thomson Marconi Sonar: BAE Systems owns 49.9% of this company. It is a major sonar exporter to over 40 customers worldwide. Thomson Marconi Sonar has over 40 years experience in the support of surface ship, submarine and airborne sonar systems.
For more information please see Campaign Against the Arms Trade for information on Western European Aerospace & Defence Industries, and The Ownership Jigsaw, which contains detailed listings of subsidiaries, including their base of operation and main activities.
you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers
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seemslikeadream (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-31-07 10:49 PM
Response to Reply #170
172. ^^^^^^^^^^ Bornaginhooligan^^^^^^^^^^^^
Outside of MBDA, BAE’s space weapon and missile defence technology includes tactical surveillance, infrared, and space electronics. Its missile defense contracts increased from $78 million in 2001 to $93 million in 2004. In July 2002, BAE and Boeing signed a missile defense memorandum of understanding, agreeing to collaborate on missile defense contracts. This move gave MBDA more access to the US market. Similar agreements with Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin followed during the summer of 2003. While Lockheed Martin and BAE were already working together on the US Missile Defense System, their agreement allowed them both to expand internationally.
In April 2002, the first tests of BAE’s Common Missile Warning System were conducted. This system was developed to warn fighter planes about infrared missile threats and to cue countermeasures to take out the enemy missile.
In 2004, the Department of Homeland Security gave Northrop Grumman and BAE $45 million each to adapt military defense systems to civilian airliners. As part of Homeland Security’s Counter-Man Portable Air Defense Systems (Counter-MANPADS), the Northrop Grumman and BAE systems are designed to detect a missile launch from a MANPAD and then direct a laser to the head of the missile and disrupt (jam) its guidance signals. MANPADS are shoulder-launched missiles that are considered to be a particular threat to airplanes and helicopters. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell once warned that "no threat is more serious to aviation" than MANPADS, which are easy to use and readily available on the black market. A 2005 Rand study estimated it would cost $11 billion to protect every US airliner from MANPADS. In addition, Aviation Week reports, “The Bush Administration has spent more that $121 million researching counter-MANPADS measures since 2003, but DHS has never committed to acquiring any specific technology.”
BAE claims to recognize “its responsibilities to the people it employs, its customers and suppliers, its shareholders, the wider community and to the environment.” American taxpayers, who are footing the $45 million bill for BAE’s Counter-MANPADS technology that will probably never be used, might beg to differ.
you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers
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seemslikeadream (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-31-07 11:22 PM
Response to Original message
175. How long can BAE, Britain's biggest arms company, run a secret service and trump the armed forces?
http://mparent7777.blogspot.com/2007/02/how-long-can-ba... CAAT has good reason to be suspicious. In 2003, the Sunday Times revealed that BAE had carried out a "widespread spying operation" on its critics. "Bank accounts were accessed, computer files downloaded and private correspondence with members of parliament and ministers secretly copied and passed on." The paper said the arms company made use of a network run by a former consultant for the Ministry of Defence called Evelyn Le Chene. "Le Chene recruited at least half a dozen agents to infiltrate CAAT's headquarters at Finsbury Park, north London, and a number of regional offices." They provided BAE with advanced intelligence on CAAT's campaign against the sale of its Hawk aircraft to the Suharto dictatorship in Indonesia. The arms company also obtained CAAT's membership list, its bank account details, the identity of its donors, its letters to ministers, even the contents of private diaries belonging to its staff.
After the story was published, CAAT asked a team of investigators to examine the messages sent from its offices. They found that one of the group's most senior members of staff, the national campaigns and events coordinator, had sent 181 emails to an unfamiliar address. Many of them contained extremely sensitive information.
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