Business As Usual

Dear Mr. President,

I read today that a $300 million upgrade to Shindand Air Base in Afghanistan is almost done. New 8,000 foot runway, new buildings, new hangars, new sign: “Home of the Afghan Air Force,” everything but new airplanes for the newly trained Afghan pilots. Held up by a law suit filed by Hawker Beechcraft (HBC) of Wichita, Kansas and lobbying by the Kansas congressional delegation. Turns out the $355 million contract for attack fighters went to a U.S. company, Sierra Nevada Corporation, based in Sparks, Nevada, to supply 20 Super Tucano turbo-prop fighters made by Embraer of Brazil. The Super Tucano is used by other militaries while HBC’s bid was based on an untested version of the AT-6, a trainer used by the Air Force and Navy. The HBC bid was rejected, they protested, the GAO threw out their protest, and HBC filed suit. Under pressure, the Air Force voided Sierra’s contract and started the bidding process over again. The planes will not be delivered until 2016 or 2017, long after we’re gone and the Taliban is back in power. The article also states that this is not the first time HBC and their Republican allies have stopped delivery of the Super Tucano. In 2011, Gen. McChrystal requested four of them to support Special Operations but Brownback and Tiahrt lobbied to stop it because American tax dollars should go to American workers. So much for supporting the troops. But what about the Hawker part of Hawker Beechcraft? I remembered Hawker as British, so I googled and found that Beech was bought by Raytheon in 1980 which also bought Hawker from British Aerospace in 1993 and called them Raytheon Aircraft. In 2007, Raytheon sold the business for $3.3 billion to a consortium—Onex Partners, a Canadian investment firm, and GS Capital Partners, i.e., Goldman Sachs. It was one of those highly leveraged buyout deals—the kind which made RomneyBain rich and a lot of Americans poor—and the company, now Hawker Beechcraft, struggled under a mountain of debt. This contract was a life-and-death situation and when they lost it and lost it again, they filed for bankruptcy. The latest twist in this sad tale? Two weeks ago, Superior Aviation of Beijing bought HBC. Meanwhile the Afghans are still waiting for the Air part of their Air Force. Like I’ve said before, the only winners in war are those who feed off it—the arms makers and dealers. Business as usual. Thought you’d like to know this behind the scenes stuff, Mr. President. Still doing my bit for democracy.