Woodstock rushes equipment for the attack on Libya

On June 21, Woodstock's weapons contractor received a new contract. A small one, just $1,549 for a single fan. But, citing an "URGENT AND COMPELLING EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT", the contract calls for "expedited delivery" of this "critical application item". The shipping address for this urgently needed equipment? USS Kearsarge.

The Kearsarge is a US Navy amphibious assault ship which has been stationed off the coast of Libya since March as a crucial part of the illegal US/NATO bombing campaign against Libya. Perhaps the fan is a component of the ship itself; more likely it's for one of the Kearsarge's Osprey, Harrier and Sea Dragon combat aircraft, or its Sea Sparrow missiles.

As usual, Woodstock is just one of many communities playing small parts in this misguided war. But putting an end to such an enormous waste of life, money and resources will mean changing the economies of Woodstock and all those other communities to peaceful purposes.

Powering future wars

Another Woodstock contribution to the destabilizing, wasteful "Star Wars" so-called Missile defense program: Rotron is a producer of power supply components for THAAD (Terminal [or Theater] High Altitude Area Defense System).

Another spy-plane contract for Woodstock

A new military contract awarded to Woodstock's arms manufacturer, dated March 4, is for parts for the EP-3E spy plane, which the BBC has called "one of the US Navy's most highly classified reconnaissance aircraft". The EP-3E is an essential component of the Pentagon's destabilizing war-fighting strategy that includes military dominance of space. The contract is worth $70,154.75.

Woodstock seems to be a regular supplier for the EP-3E: we have commented in a previous post on an earlier Ametek Rotron sale for the same aircraft.

WikiLeaks: Woodstock helped to arm Egypt's Mubarak regime

According to a newly-released WikiLeaks cable from the US Embassy in Cairo dated October 6, 2009, "the Egyptian Ministry of Defense verified that it received 75 Electrical Rotron Fans from Ametek Rotron/Rheinmetall Defence Italia for use in the Skyguard Air Defense System."

Ametek Rotron is Woodstock's own weapons manufacturer (and the town's biggest employer). It's hardly surprising that Rotron was supplying this particular dictatorship, since it ships components for many standard weapons systems all over the world. Indeed, it's highly likely that the F-16 warplanes that buzzed the pro-democracy demonstrators in Tahrir Square contained Ametek Rotron components -- likewise the Abrams tanks that lined the square. But it's only occasionally that a corner of the curtain is lifted and we glimpse specific details of the unsavory business of arming dictatorships -- and Woodstock's bit part in it.

Quite probably these Woodstock weapons parts were paid for by US taxpayers as part of our massive military aid to the Egyptian regime.
 
Ametek Rotron also supplies weapons components to the Israeli government -- again paid for by US taxpayers.

Aegis, helicopters, and plenty of other war profiteering for Woodstock company

Woodstock's weapons-components manufacturer -- and the town's largest employer by far -- Ametek Rotron continues to reel in the military contracts. The publicly available ones for November and December 2010 alone (see DIBBS) total more than $650,000. There are surely many more secret ones, for Rotron's customers worldwide.

It's usually hard to find out exactly what weapons systems these contracts are destined for, but a contract dated Dec. 20, 2010, for $5,564, is for fans that (according to WebFlis) are specifically for the Aegis Weapons System, a crucial part of the destabilizing and wasteful "Star Wars" Ballistic Missile Defense. Rotron seems to be a regular supplier for Aegis.

Another new contract, for $85,958.80, is for fans for Sikorsky military aircraft, perhaps Black Hawk helicopters. Other new contracts indicate Rotron parts going into weapons systems made by Boeing and Texas Instruments.

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].