Weapon Inspection Primer

BOFORS DEFENCE/WEAPON INSPECTION PRIMER

COMPILED by Joel Kilgour 2002-04-21

The players:

UNITED DEFENSE bought Bofors AB in June of 2000. United Defense is an American arms merchant best known for its Bradley "fighting vehicles" which, according to Mother Jones magazine, were armed with Depleted Uranium weapons and used by US troops to bury Iraqi conscripts alive in the sand during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. United Defense has joint ventures in Turkey and Suadi Arabia, where it trains Saudi troops for use of the Bradley tanks. It retains close business ties with Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, and of course, the United States Department of Defense (DoD). According to the World Policy Institute, United Defense recently won a US$475 million contract with the DoD (part of the massive US military budget build-up since September 11) for the development of the Crusader artillery system, a system that has been criticized even by military advisors to the Bush Administration for being heavy and outdated.

THE CARLYLE GROUP owns United Defense. This steadily growing US investment company also happens to be the 11th largest military contractor in the US (by 2001 DoD figures). Of those employed by or sitting on the board of the Carlyle Group are many former Western military and political leaders, including former US Secretary of Defense George Carlucci (now the chair of The Carlyle Group and former college roommate and wrestling buddy of current US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield), George Bush, Sr., John Major and former US Secretary of State James Baker. Former clients include the bin Laden family and the prince of Saudi Arabia. The City of Arcata (California) Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Commission has identified the Carlyle Groups as the ninth largest supplier of nuclear weapons to the US military.

Weapons systems:

Bofors produces an array of munitions and, tanks and demining vehicles. Of particular note is the Bofors 40 mm 3P ammo, described on the Bofors website for use in “urban warfare” against “soft targets.” It is in the family of so-called ‘smart munitions’ built with a special timing mechanism. Its effectiveness apparently lies in its large range of dispersal. As described by the Bofors website: “The shell bursts over the target area and releases a cloud containing more than 2500 lethal fragments.”

Ties to the US:

A Bofors press release issued September 9, 2000, reads: “via the United Defense ownership we will… gain access to better opportunities to more markets, for example the US market.”

It further states, “Our TCM program is one example of the US armed forces interest in our products.” The Bofors Defence website indicates that the US Army has placed a continuous order with Bofors for development of Trajectory Correctable Munitions – so-called "smart munitions" with internal guidance systems. The TCM technology is being developed by Bofors in conjunction with the American firm Science and Applied Technologies, Inc.

The next most recent contract we could find between Bofors and the US military was in 1999 for the “Multi-Role, Anti-Armor, Anti-Personnel Weapon System.” Since many weapons sales are confidential or selectively reported, it is difficult to know how many other active contracts Bofors has with the US government.

Some other salses of concern:

An October 15, 2001 article in Dagens Nyheter reports that the Export Control Council has given Bofors Defence approval for a potential sale of 3,000 Howitzers to India. According to the India Defence Consultants, FH77 Howitzers “saved the day” during the Kargil/Kashmir conflict with Pakistan in 1999.

In 2001, Bofors won a contract with the Mexican Navy worth 170 MSEK. (Though the front is now relatively still, Mexico has for a decade been engaged in a low-level, internal war against the Zapatistas and suspected supporters in its southern state of Chiapas). The Bofors website boasts contract discussions with "numerous other customers around the world" for the same Naval Gun System.

Bofors is collaborating with the French company GIAT Industries for the development and production of BONUS anti-tank munitions. GIAT has a wide range of anti-tank munitions that it boasts “can penetrate any armor.”

The weapons industry’s close circles

On August 10 of 2001, Bofors announced the appointment of Lars Rockert, former Marketing Manager of Ericsson Microwave System (another weapons systems manufacturer) as Vice President of Marketing. The Bofors website touts Mr. Rockert’s “great circle of contacts” and “vital role in Bofors Defence efforts to develop the transatlantic link…” And earlier that year, on June 15, Bofors announced the appointment of General Owe Wiktorin, former Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces to its board. Tom Rabaut, president of United Defense, said of his appointment: “General Wiktorin will be a strategic asset in helping Bofors Defence become a leader in the international market in the field of intelligent ammunition. He provides an excellent understanding of the USA and Swedish markets.”

Addendum - 2002-04-22

On April 19, Bofors VP of Communication, Christer Henebäck, and Director of Export Control, Thomas Dahlin, invited the Weapon Inspection Bofors Defence Team to a meeting. They were very helpful in offering information about the current status of Bofors weapon production and sales. Both confirmed that Bofors is indeed vying for a contract with India for upgraded Howitzers. They also acknowledged that Bofors Howitzers had been used by the Indian military in the conflict with Pakistan. When questioned about the apparent violation of principles of neutrality by supplying weapons to one side of an armed conflict, they noted that Bofors Defence has no internal guidelines on weapons sales and relies solely on the decisions of the Swedish Arms Export Control. Mr. Dahlin said that Bofors has no current contracts with the US, but they are in negotiations and an agreement could be reached on the development of TCM “soon, perhaps next week.” They indicated that Bofors’ largest buyers currently are Sweden, Finland and Mexico. Neither would comment on other contract negotiations underway with other nations.