United Defense Primary military products: Armored fighting vehicles, howitzers, machine guns, and accessories Annual sales: $1.3 billion in 1997 Primary customers: Israel, Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia Famous/infamous for: serving as a finishing school for Senator Dirk Kempthorne (R-Idaho) -- now Governor Kempthorne Major campaign contributions (1997-98): $189,000 from FMC Corp., one of the companies that merged to create United Defense

United Defense, created in 1994 by the merger of two smaller companies, FMC Corp. and Harsco, is best known for its Bradley armored fighting vehicles -- the all-but-tanks that let U.S. soldiers bury hapless Iraqi conscripts alive during the Gulf War (they were also put to use against David Koresh's followers in Waco, Texas). Plus, according to an investigation by The Nation, the Bradleys deployed the notorious depleted uranium (DU) munitions later suspected in connection with Gulf War Syndrome. (They also tend to sink in water, even though they are supposed to be amphibious.)

Since they achieved such sparkling success in the Persian Gulf, the export market for Bradley tanks has been brisk. (Click here for information on sales.) In September 1998, UD picked up a $12.9 million contract for manufacturing assistance in support of Egyptian co-production of 50 M88A2 Hercules heavy recovery vehicles (which make it possible to safely recover tracked vehicles weighing up to 70 tons); 60 percent of the production will actually take place in Egypt. UD has also formed FMC Arabia, a joint venture with the Saudi company Al Hejailan to overhaul 523 of the Saudis' M113-series armored personnel carriers -- part of a 1997 contract worth $413 million. In both cases, UD not only exports the weapons, but the production jobs also; the only tangible benefit to the U.S. is whatever cash the corporation and its stockholders get in the transaction.

But as UD sends more jobs overseas, is there a chance that regulators or Congress might frown on the arrangement? Not really. Beyond the usual campaign contributions (FMC gave $189,000 to the Republicans and Democrats combined in 1997-8), UD has an additional regulatory advantage in the revolving-door world of public and private arms dealers: Former FMC vice president, public affairs manager, and lobbyist Dirk Kempthorne, until recently the junior Republican senator from Idaho, took the oath as that state's governor this past January. Interestingly, Kempthorne's transition team was headed by FMC division quality manager Tom Bernask, ensuring that the ties between corporations and the government remain strong in the future.

-- Geov Parrish

In 1995 Israel bought 28 M-577 command armored personnel carriers (APCs) as part of a $363 million foreign military sales (FMS) package. M577A2 command vehicles have also gone to Lebanon and Saudi Arabia; M113 A2/3 APCs have gone to Egypt, Lebanon, Thailand, and Kuwait. It's not just tanks that move briskly on the export market for UD. The company picked up a sale worth nearly $500 million in early 1998 from Kuwait which consisted of two "fully equipped" Paladin artillery battalions. Those battalions each came with 48 M109A6 self-propelled howitzers, 154 M2 machine guns, 18 M88A2 recovery vehicles, 24 M113A3 ammunition support vehicles, 136 AN/VRC and 125 AN/PRC SINCGARS radio systems, two AN/TPQ-36(V)9 Firefinder radar sets, trucks, trailers, night- vision goggles, a meteorological radar station, simulators, training, and support. UD has made numerous sales of its howitzers, recovery vehicles, and other weapons to countries such as Israel, South Korea, Egypt, Lebanon, and Thailand.