LAAR aircraft pits US company against Brazilians
The Air Force decided that they needed a slower, more maneuverable aircraft that can loiter longer above the battlefield to support ground troops in the 21st century war against terror. They called this aircraft a light attack and armed reconnaissance (LAAR) aircraft. The Air Force decision to buy the LAAR pits a US company, Hawker Beechcraft, against Brazilian-owned and operated Embraer. By Brazilian-owned and operated, I mean the government of Brazil subsidizes the aircraft company, so the government is essentially the majority stock-holder.
The Beechcraft submission is the AT-6, a variant of the T-6 training aircraft that the Air Force already uses to train it’s pilots as well as the pilots of foreign allies. So you can imagine how easy it would be to transition pilots from their training into these fighters.
The Hill says that giving the contract to Beechcraft would add 1400 jobs in 18 states to the economy. On the other hand, awarding the contract to Embraer would only create 50 jobs in the US, but who needs 1350 additional jobs in this economy, right?
In addition to costing the US some jobs, awarding the contract to Embraer also puts our national security at risk. Brazil has opposed the US in the war against terror, opposed us in attempts to rein in Iran’s nuclear program and in reining in Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who just left office was a notorious supporter of Iran and Chavez. His replacement, Dilma Rousseff, was a Marxist guerrilla in the 1960s, so you know where her loyalties lay.
Since Embraer is largely controlled by the State, it’s probably a given that Brazil could hold our national security interests hostage to their whims by interrupting the flow of aircraft and spare parts that the Air Force has determined is critical to their participation in the war against terror.
According to the Center For Individual Freedom;
Another troubling item is an unconventional clause in the potential Embraer contract known as the “Golden Share” clause. Under that provision, the Brazilian government would be empowered to shut down the operation at any time during the production or maintenance of the aircraft. Alarmingly, the United States would have no means for recourse on the matter. That’s not very “golden” for American interests.
Putting that kind of power over that aspect of our national security interests in the hands of a former Marxist guerrilla makes absolutely no sense.
The Hill also notices a design flaw in the Brazilian craft;
The AT-6 aircraft is designed to accommodate 95 percent of both male and female pilots safely, while its counterpart, the Brazilian EMB314 is designed to meet older standards that due to weight and size, drastically shrink the population of pilots, particularly female pilots, able to safely fly the aircraft.
If the Air Force looks more than once at the comparison, there’s something seriously wrong with our acquisition system.
Category: Military issues
that we do not control our own defense industry is beyond disgraceful. From being force to bow to Brazil, to having critical components of NVGs made by CHINA. . . it forces us to tread carefully diplomatically, when it is not wholly good for the nation.
Sadly I’m not convinced that the American aircraft is better, and honestly I don’t give a crap about gender issues in the cockpit.
Yay! They can even fuel them with oil they’re getting offshore that we’re paying for. WINNING!
Or not.
It’s not really The Hill reporting what you quoted. It’s the head of a union tied into Beechcraft that is saying that in an editorial
I don’t understand why the USAF doesn’t do what the Marines just did in Afghanistan, requip a few C-130s turning them into AC-130s for close air support. An airframe that we manufacture here at home and thats large but relatively agile. For God’s Sake, I think Barbara Boxer just got critised for sticking a few more of these purchases into the last Defense Authorisation Bill. The USAF did not want or need them, so there has to be a few extra C-130s floating about somewhere.
Turning Cargo planes into close air support platforms goes at least back to Vietnam. Maybe we also should bring back the Skyraider for close air support too, while we’re at it. This is a niche that is relatively easy to fill and that a new aircraft is not needed for.
Maybe Brazil needs close air support for all those prison riots. Not to mention all the street gangs that have taken over large swaths of the cities and ambush police on a regular basis. Keep them out of our Defense acquisition process.
So what you guys are saying is that there’s a chance we’re going to get waxed by the Brazilians?
[…] Administration outsources US jobs to Brazil January 21st, 2012 I wrote about this issue back in May about the contract competition between a US company, Hawker Beechcraft, against Brazilian-owned and […]
Both parties suck and the candidates they offer suck even harder. Even though I think Obama did a terrible job I’m more frightened of someone like Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich getting ahold of the reigns. Romeny would sell us to the highest bidder first chance possible and Gingrich is so out of touch with reality I’m not sure what planet he thinks hes on.
I want to vote for Teddy Roosevelt, anyone got a spare DeLorean handy?
If you are talking about the EMB 314 aka A-29 Super Tucano they are going to be manufactured in Jacksonville, FL. R&D is done in Sparks, NV. Proven platform that has been up and running since 2003.