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The pre-Clinton integration of Textron's Bell Aerospace Textron and Textron Defense Systems divisions in 1990, with its attendant layoffs, set the tone for the 1990s military-merger wave. Textron hasn't kept pace with the larger companies' merger frenzy, though it did buy a Mesa, Arizona, helicopter division from Boeing in February 1998 (and subsequently announced it would move production to Quebec), and in 1992 picked up Cessna Aircraft. The 13th largest Defense Department contract, with $1.2 billion in FY96, Textron ranks even higher in arms exports -- a top 10 player in selling U.S. weapons to almost any buyer. In addition to aerospace innovations, miscellaneous commercial products, and financial services, Textron's military empire includes Bell Helicopter -- and why not? Everybody buys helicopters. They are the favored counterinsurgency toy for dictators around the globe, and one of the most popular is the Bell Textron UH-1H series: the venerable, infinitely adaptable Huey. (Click here for some of the proud new owners of Hueys and other whirlybirds.) Bell is currently one of five companies vying for a $3.5 billion Turkish order for 145 attack helicopters over the next decade. Turkey's military previously bought 10 AH-1W SuperCobra gunships, and had lusted after 10 more in 1996. Congressional opposition doomed that deal, largely due to concerns about Turkey's relentless campaign against indigenous Kurds in the east, plus tensions with fellow NATO member Greece over Cyprus. The winner of the contract will use offsets to seal the deal, caving in to Turkey's demand that at least 30 percent of the helicopter order be manufactured in Turkey. And to make sure Congress doesn't get cold feet over human rights issues as it did with the SuperCobra deal, Textron has slid more than $199,550 into the two major parties' pockets since January 1997. The Huey's utility is well illustrated in Mexico, where the U.S. helps its southern neighbor's military buy hardware and train personnel for the War on Drugs. But American helicopters have also been key in the low-level harassment of indigenous villages and Zapatista encampments in the southern Mexican jungle. But when Hueys aren't chasing down guerrillas, they free up other military resources for that mission. To pretend, as Clinton's State Department generally does, that U.S. arms exports don't affect our allies' domestic wars is disingenuous at best. Tracking how helicopters are used, and imposing any kind of sale or resale restrictions on them, has been made even more difficult by a Clinton administration expansion of "dual-use" exports. Dual-use products can easily be switched back and forth from civilian to military use with only minor modifications; they range from in-flight refueling jets to digital displays used in cockpits. Under the new rules, civilian helicopters can be sold to countries such as Pakistan or Indonesia whose nuclear proliferation or human rights records would otherwise exclude them from purchasing the same in weapon form. But in a 1996 interview, Bell Helicopter executive Jeff Cromar proudly explained how his company's negotiations with Pakistan for the sale of commercial helicopters -- with the clear understanding that they would be converted to military use -- was "perfectly legal". After buying a dual-use item like a civilian helicopter, the purchaser need only buy an "integration system" -- a kit for changing the chopper from civilian to military use or vice versa. Integration kits are freely available through companies such as Premiere Aviation of Texas, Belgian Fabrique Nacional, and the European company GIAT, giving Bell Textron and its brethren a perfectly legal way to circumvent nit-picking congressional sales restrictions. -- Geov Parrish
Recent recipients of new or secondhand Hueys include Argentina, Colombia, Ghana, Greece, Jamaica, Latvia, Mexico, Oman, South Korea, and Uruguay. (A $1.5 billion sale of 96 AH-1 RO Dracula attack helicopters to Romania fell through in fall 1997.) Newer versions have sold briskly to more upscale customers in the Clinton era: Israel and Bahrain have purchased AH-1E Huey attack helicopters; Bahrain, Greece, and Jordan have gotten AH-1P Cobra attack helicopters; Bahrain and Jordan have also picked up TAH-1P Cobra training/attack helicopters. Taiwan's haul has included 13 OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopters. The Taiwan Kiowa sale, in September 1997, came with 13 Hellfire rocket launchers, several rockets, and ammo, all for a cool $172 million, just before Southeast Asia's currencies began to collapse. | | |||||||||||||
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