Under a new military contract dated December 17, Ametek Rotron of Woodstock will supply $85,958.80 worth of fans for Sikorsky helicopters. Sikorsky makes the Black Hawk and other military helicopters.

The contract for the Marines' AN/TPS-59 radar, mentioned in a post last month, has now been awarded to Rotron: $65,786. (Along with some other recent contracts for which we don't know the intended weapons systems.)

A bumper day for Woodstock war contracts

DIBBS tells us that October 19 saw 3 new DoD contracts issued to Rotron Inc:

• $7,573.20 for parts for AN/SPN-43, the Navy's marshalling air traffic control radar system used on all aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.
• $2,559.75 for parts for Airborne Radar Sets made by Northrop Grumman's Norden Systems division.
• $11,839 for parts for something made by Lockheed Martin's Electronics and Surveillance Systems division.

DFAS Columbus...

... is the Pentagon agency that actually pays Rotron of Woodstock for many of its contracts, for example the contracts for Israel and for the Marines mentioned in recent posts. DLAS is the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, a twig of the DoD bureaucracy. Its website tells us that Rotron is one of more than 18,500 DoD contractors sharing more than 338,000 contracts [per year, presumably].

In the Woodstock weapons pipeline...

An upcoming Woodstock arms contract is for 4o fans for the AN/TPS-59, the U.S. Marines' tactical missile defense radar, made by Lockheed Martin, which has seen action in Operations Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom. On October 9 the Marine Corps issued a solicitation notice for these spare parts, stating that it intends to negotiate the contract with Woodstock's Rotron Inc which is the sole source.

"CRITICAL APPLICATION ITEM"

So says the small print on one of Rotron's latest DOD contracts, dated October 13, 2009. What is a Critical Application Item?
"Critical Application Item: An item that is essential to weapon system performance or operation, or the operating personnel as determined by the military Services (DLAI 3200.1). " -- DLA
Which weapon system(s) are these 11 fans (at $313.20 each) essential for? We don't know.

But we do know what another recent contract (50 fans at $1,848.60 each) is for: it's for the Raytheon AN/TSC-154 - SMART-T. What's that? It's a "MILSTAR satellite-compatible communications terminal mounted on a High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle."
Once again, communications at the heart of warfare -- with U.S. military domination of space as a corollary.

New weapons contract: Woodstock to Israeli Air Force

Rotron Inc. of Woodstock, N.Y. has a new contract (dated Oct 1, 2009) to supply 50 fans for "Government of Israel/Ministry of Defense/Chel Avir". Chel Avir is (a version of) the Hebrew name of the Israeli Air Force.

The contract, worth $27,712.50, is administered by the US Army and paid for by the US Defense Department (i.e. by US taxpayers), but the fans are to be shipped to Israel.

This is the first actual Rotron contract we've obtained that's explicitly for Israel, although we already knew from Rotron's own promotional material that they've supplied Merkava and IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries). Since most Rotron contracts don't wander into cyberspace where they can be found, it's highly likely that this is far from the first Israeli military sale for Rotron.

The fans are Rotron part number 011042. We haven't been able to find out what weapons system(s) they're for, but they're doubtless for Israeli warplanes ... quite likely F-16s or Apache helicopters, both of which were prominent in Israel's attack on Gaza in 2008-9.

The posting of the contract at
http://contracting.tacom.army.mil/confls/awd/W56HZV10P0019/0000.pdf has since been removed, but here's the top page and an inside page.

DIBBS, CAGE and WebFLIS

Here's a way to look at some Defense Department contracts for your local weapons contractor. Each Federal contractor (military or civilian) is assigned a bureaucratic number called a CAGE Code, which should be easy to find by an internet search. Armed (as it were) with a CAGE Code, visit DIBBS, a Defense Logistics Agency website, and search by Awardee CAGE to get a list of some (not necessarily all) of your company's recent DoD contracts. You can even look at the actual purchase orders.

Careful study may reveal which weapons system a contract's for. If an NSN is mentioned, that's the National Stock Number of the item supplied, and another DLA website called WebFLIS may tell you more about it.

For example, the CAGE Code for Woodstock's Rotron is 82877, and among the contract awards you'll find on DIBBS is one dated 7/2/2009 for 3 fans. WebFLIS's information for this model of fan reveals that it's a component of the F-16 fighter aircraft.
See also another useful website

How to find out about military contracts in your community

One place to start is http://www.governmentcontractswon.com/. It's a commercial website and we can't vouch for its reliability but it has some interesting data in the free part, which is the only part we've tried . . . Bear in mind that federal contracts are only a part of the picture, e.g. much of Woodstock's weapons components production is for subcontracts, sub-sub-contracts, private contracts and foreign sales . . . Come back often for more tips, as well as discussion of the ways the war economy reaches into each of our communities. We hope you'll contribute your own methods, findings and ideas.

Woodstock is typical!

Woodstock is a small community, and its weapons manufacturer is correspondingly small relative to giants like Lockheed Martin. It's a symbol, a microcosm, of the reach of the death mills into every community, yes, even Woodstock.

As is true of the military industry in general, much of the work of Woodstock's Ametek Rotron is not direct Pentagon contracts but subcontracts. As Todd Zimmer of Peace Economy Project says:
"This practice of subcontracting ... accounts for much of the graft and cost-overruns rampant in the industry. Boeing and Lockheed intentionally spread out political culpability for program cuts across the geographical United States in an effort to influence the maximum number of elected congressional representatives. The F-22 program involves subcontracts with over 1,000 suppliers scattered across 44 states"
... Woodstock is home to one of those thousand.

This chart shows how Woodstock's arms manufacturer sharply increased its federal military contracts during the Bush II years. Direct federal contracts are only a part -- probably a minority -- of Rotron's production, but this suggests the company chose to increase its emphasis on weapons -- and that it's just as possible now for the company to think again and start to emphasize useful products.

Local manufacturer makes razor wire for Iraq occupation

From Poughkeepsie Journal, 9/16/2007:
"In 2002, Cobra Systems of Bloomington won a Department of Defense contract to make specialized razor wire.
The contract was announced with considerable fanfare by U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, who wrote letters to the Department of Defense on behalf of Cobra. It guaranteed a minimum of $5 million over the next five years, with a maximum potential payout of $50 million. The ultimate value of the contract, which ends this year, is expected to be between $8 million-$9 million.
The family-owned business operates a small office on Route 32 and has manufacturing plants in Lake Katrine and Newburgh, although the Newburgh plant opens only when there are enough orders to sustain operations there.
In 2005 and 2006, Cobra received transactions totaling more than $2.2 million for its razor wire, much of which has been used in Iraq."
Cobra continues to get military contracts for fencing: $1,119,246 worth in 2008.
Was the razor wire around Abu Ghraib made in Ulster County? Was Hinchey intentionally undermining his own stated opposition to the war on Iraq?

Woodstock makes Bradley Tank components

According to Army Guide, Ametek Rotron of Woodstock is the manufacturer of these components for weapons systems:

*Fans, connectors and motors for the Bradley M2/M3 infantry fighting vehicle and the M7 BFIST fire support vehicle pictured here. Don't let the name make you think that the M7 is some kind of fire engine. It's "a variant of the M2A2-ODS Bradley. It is used as an artillery forward observer vehicle and laser designator, providing major improvements in first-round artillery accuracy...". Used in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

*Fumes Evacuation System for the Crusader SPH XM2001 self-propelled howitzer. The Crusader was a program so useless and so costly that even Rumsfeld canceled it, in 2002.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey is one of the more progressive members of Congress. And yet 6 of the top 20 contributors to his 2010 election Campaign Committee (to date) are military contractors: BAE Systems, L-3 Communications, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Link Simulation.

Woodstock's Rotron is only a local manifestation of the military-industrial complex's reach into every local economy in the US. Our society's precious resources are warped and wasted by our incessant production of harmful rather than useful things. The challenge of converting our economy to a peaceful, green one will be solved at a much broader level than the small community of Woodstock. But where better to begin?

The giants of Detroit have fallen far by adhering to an outdated, unsustainable business model. Let's encourage our local companies to avoid this fate and instead prosper by switching to sustainable products rather than harmful ones such as illustrated on this page.

Woodstock Makes Nuclear Submarine Components

Ametek Rotron Technical Motor Division of Woodstock, NY, is an "Approved Supplier" for Electric Boat. Electric Boat, a division of General Dynamics Corporation, is the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy, and makes nothing but nuclear submarines. Current contracts include the design of the New Attack Submarine (NSSN), and for construction of the Seawolf and Virginia classes of nuclear-powered attack submarines.

Woodstock Produces Aircraft Carrier Components

In New York State alone there are 94 members of New York’s Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base who "received more than $118,364,280.26 in purchase order awards to produce components and provide services for the maintenance and construction of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers". One of them is Woodstock's Ametek Rotron, a small fish in a big murky pond.

Acccording to the The Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition:

A United States Navy aircraft carrier is a very modern, very mobile U.S. military base complete with airfield, hospital and communications systems from which the United States can strike at its enemies. ...

Aircraft carriers have been employed in every major and many smaller conflicts including Vietnam; Grenada and Lebanon; Libya; Operation Desert Storm; and most recently in Afghanistan and Iraq. ...

Modern carrier capabilities save American forces from having to comply with the arbitrary requirements of other nations. In 2001, it took months to negotiate aircraft basing permission from the countries surrounding Afghanistan. Carriers stationed in international waters can provide the infrastructure, equipment and staff to enable forces to undertake their missions without delay.
(http://www.acibc.org/fact-sheets/national-security.asp; emphasis added)

In the picture, an F/A-18F Super Hornet undergoes finalchecks before being launched from the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). Besides its contribution to the fleet, Ametek Rotron also claims to makes parts for the F/A-18F: see the example of Rotron's promotional material below.

http://www.acibc.org/factsheets/statebystate.asp

Minuteman Nuclear Missile Test

As the Global Network reports, "The US arsenal of hypocrisy is poised for another launch from Vandenberg AFB in Southern California in the early morning hours of August 23. Our government lectures and threatens Iran and North Korea about the evils of nuclear weapons and then arrogantly continues to fire nuclear missiles from California into the Pacific Ocean. On August 23rd there will be another 'test firing' of a Minuteman III nuclear missile from Vandenberg."

Woodstock's Ametek Rotron supplied parts for the Minuteman from the 1960s on, was still doing so in 2001, and most likely has continued to do so. So Woodstock is contributing, in its small way, to the nuclear destabilisation of the Earth.

Vandenberg Witness is calling for protests against these missile tests on August 22/23.
A previous test firing of Minuteman ICBM from Vandenberg is pictured here.

On June 24 the Defense Logistics Agency awarded Woodstock's Rotron a $58,869.60 contract for 76 centrifugal fans. We're not sure exactly what these fans will be used for, but they're an official part for Lockheed Martin's Maritime Systems & Sensors division, which according to its website "provides surface, air and undersea applications for U.S. and allied forces, including radar and surveillance systems, undersea combat systems and C4I, [and] surface combat systems and sensors..."

Woodstock supplies more F-16 components

On July 2, the Defense Logistics Agency awarded Woodstock's Rotron Inc. a new contract for 3 tubeaxial fans for F-16 fighter-bomber aircraft. This contract is worth $1720.65, and is Rotron's second F-16 contract within a month. Should our community be making something more useful? More on Rotron's F-16 contracts

Here's another way that Woodstock's manufactures provide a glimpse into the complex world of military procurement. A Woodstock firm is in this case a sub-sub-contractor to the Pentagon. It's part of an Army program to develop "the Next-Generation M915 and Family of Line Haul HTV's". HTV's are Heavy Tactical Vehicles: the M915 is a heavy-duty truck tractor "used primarily in active and reserve component transportation units for the rapid, efficient transport of bulk supplies from ocean ports to division support areas within a theater of operation." (http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_m915series_m915.php)

Under a July 2008 contract, Ametek Rotron provided an Auxiliary Environmental Control Unit (air-conditioning and heating) to Dewey Electronics Corporation. It's part of an Auxiliary Power Unit which Dewey developed for MTC Technologies under a $475,000 subcontract. MTC is the lead contractor. (MTC was acquired in June 2008 by BAE, the world's 3rd-largest military contractor.) "The project is expected to be completed and delivered to the U.S. Army by November of 2008." (Science Letter, 7/8/2008)

Thus Woodstock is contributing to the "nuts and bolts" of the next military occupation. Here are some photos that show some M915s at work in Iraq:



The lowest picture shows British soldiers securing Humvees for transport aboard an M915 tractor-trailer in Iraq.

Communications equipment: an essential part of weapons systems and war-fighting

Rotron of Woodstock's military contracts are a microcosm of the military-industrial complex. Thus it isn't surprising that many of them are for communications equipment. Satellite-based communications are a fundamental part of the Pentagon's war-fighting strategy, and dominance of space is its prerequisite.

An example of a Woodstock customer: the EP-3E Aircraft, the Navy's SIGINT or electronic warfare and reconnaissance aircraft. The Navy has 12 of them and on 1/16/2009 awarded Rotron 2 contracts, each for $17,094.40 for 4 fans (more than $4,000 per fan), presumably for replacement and spare parts.

Other military "end items" for Rotron fans within the past year include:
"OE-222A/G Satellite Antenna" for the Army
"Communications program, Combat Theater"
"Radio Terminal Set"
"7253800-SIE10(53711) Photo Mast, Bay 10"
"AN/USC-38 PAL, SATCOM TERMINAL"

F-16 Aircraft and Aegis Warships: among Woodstock's latest customers

Earlier this month, on June 3, 2009, the Defense Logistics Agency placed an order worth $1,720.65 with Rotron Inc. of Woodstock for spare parts for F-16 military aircraft. The order is for 3 fans (at $573.55 per fan).

This is just the latest of Rotron's many military contracts: in 2008, Rotron had over $2 million worth of Defense Department contracts, and an unknown number of private military contracts. In a few cases, we know which war-machines the Woodstock components are contributing to. For example, at least 3 contracts in the past year have been for the Aegis Weapons System, the Navy's most advanced war-fighting system consisting of cruisers and destroyers equipped with guns, torpedoes, electronic warfare and sophisticated communications equipment. Aegis is also a crucial component of the destabilising "Missile Defense" program. The 3 contracts that we know of totalled $21,459,80 for 62 fans.

Ametek Rotron, Woodstock's largest employer, is justly proud of its highly skilled workers. Perhaps if their efforts and creativity were turned to constructive purposes we'd all be better served. The problem is not limited to Woodstock: it's endemic to our economy. The conversion of our war economy to a peace economy is urgent and needs to be tackled both at the local level and as part of a broader transition to a sustainable economy.

Made In Woodstock?

Ametek Rotron Military and Aerospace Products, on Hasbrouck Lane in Woodstock, NY, is a division of Ametek Inc, and apparently makes both civilian and military products. Our concern is, of course, not with the facility's non-military production. But we believe that Woodstock, the world, Rotron and its employees will all benefit when we make useful, sustainable products rather than weapons.

Among the many weapons systems that - according to the company's promotional materials - include Rotron components are:
AH-64 Apache Longbow attack helicopter, widely used in the occupation of Iraq.
F-15, F-16, and F/A-18F aircraft, used in the illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Operation Desert Storm; also used by governments with long records of human rights violations such as Pakistan and Indonesia.
Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), used to fire cluster bombs: by the US in Iraq and by Israel in Lebanon in 2006.
M2 Bradley tank, used in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
M113 Armored Personnel Carrier. 5500 of these are used by Israel to enforce its illegal occupation of the West Bank.
Challenger tank (UK), used in the invasion of Iraq.
In most cases it is not within our knowledge which of these products are made in Woodstock as opposed to the company's other facility in El Cajon, California. But the company's headquarters are in Woodstock. Further examples of weapons systems for which Ametek Rotron Military and Aerospace Products claims to make components are:
Military Transport: Lockheed C-130, C-130J, C-5; Alenia G-222
Military Attack/Fighter: Boeing AV-8B, F-18; Eurofighter EF2000; Lockheed F-22, F-117; Mitsubishi/Lockheed F-2; Northrop B-2; IAI Rafael [Israel Aircraft Industries]; Alenia/Aermacchi/Embraer AMX; Dassault Rafale
Military helicopters include: RAH-66 Comanche, AH-64 Apache, Eurocopter Tiger
Merkava: the main battle tank of the Israel Defense Forces
TARES Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (Germany)
VBL (French light armored vehicle)
Crusader self-propelled howitzer
LAV (Light Armored Vehicle): a mainstay of US Marine forces in Iraq
MESAR2 , a now-obsolete component of Ballistic Missile Defense