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EDO Corporation was an American company which was acquired by
ITT Corporation ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesses ...
in 2007. EDO designed and manufactured products for
defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...
,
intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
, and commercial markets, and provided related
engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
and professional services. It employed 4,000 people worldwide and had revenues of $715 million in 2006. EDO's assets went to ITT Defense Electronics and Services. As of May 2015, these assets were now part of
Harris Corporation Harris Corporation was an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology service (economics), services provider that produced wireless equipment, tactical radios, electronic systems, night vision device, night visi ...
, and since June 2019,
L3Harris Technologies L3Harris Technologies, Inc. is an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology service (economics), services provider that produces products for command and control systems, wireless equipment, tactical radios, avi ...
.


History

Earl Dodge Osborn founded the
Edo Aircraft Corporation EDO Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturing company known primarily for manufacturing pontoons for floatplanes. History The EDO Aircraft Corporation began operations on October 16, 1925 in College Point, New York. Although i ...
in 1925. The company's first successful product line was pontoons for
floatplanes A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land ...
. With the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the company's focus shifted, and EDO began to provide subassemblies for
military aircraft A military aircraft is any Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing or rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary military of any type. Some military aircraft engage directly in aerial warfare, while others take on su ...
. This shift in emphasis led to the company being renamed the EDO Corporation in November 1947. EDO became a
public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...
in 1956 with its listing on the
American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known ...
, and moved to the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
in 1983. An agreement was reached September 18, 2007 for
ITT Corporation ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesses ...
to buy EDO for $1.7 billion. After EDO shareholders' approval, the deal was closed and finalized on December 20, 2007. On January 12, 2011, the ITT Corporation Board of Directors approved a plan to split the company. On October 31, 2011, ITT Corporation spun off its defense and water technology businesses to form three separate, publicly traded companies. Exelis, Inc. was the spin-off that contained EDO as a subsidiary. On May 29, 2015, Harris Corp. announced the acquisition of Exelis, Inc. EDO remains a subsidiary; however, the owner has changed.


Company structure

EDO's resources were aligned into two reporting segments, Electronic Systems & Communications and Engineered Systems & Services, serving six market sectors:


C4 (Command, Control, Communications, and Computers)

The Command, Control, Communications, and Computers ( C4) sector includes two business units: the Antenna Products & Technologies and the Communications & Networking Systems. EDO's antenna business custom designs antennas for military platforms and satellites. This includes military airborne, military shipboard, military ground, commercial wireless, commercial aviation, and advanced technology integrated/custom antennas. The Communications & Networking Systems business unit designs and integrates voice and data communications equipment into end-to-end network solutions. In 1992, EDO Corporation purchased Antenna Manufacturer Dorne & Margolin.


Electronic Warfare

The Electronic Warfare sector includes three business units: Communications and Countermeasures Systems, Defense Systems, and Reconnaissance and Surveillance Systems. The Communications and Countermeasures Systems (CCS) business unit develops electronic protection technology. Products developed by CCS include the Shortstop Electronic Protection System (SEPS) for both military and civilian applications, the Data Link Validation System (DLVS) for validating and testing military data links, and the Wideband Secure Voice Equipment (WSVE) for secure voice radio transmission. The Defense Systems business unit designs and manufactures high-performance electronic assemblies for military and space applications, and develops and produces electromechanical systems and equipment for government and commercial marine and aircraft applications. The primary product areas include electronic warfare systems, radar systems, embedded systems, RF/Microwave products, air quality monitoring, nuclear detection, and manufacturing services. The Reconnaissance and Surveillance Systems business unit designs and manufactures Electronic Warfare (EW) and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) systems and products. It manufactures integrated systems, antennas, receivers, digitizers, signal processors, and signal analysis software packages for ELINT, ESM, ECM, and SIGINT applications.


Integrated Systems and Structures

The Integrated Systems and Structures sector includes six business units: Defense Systems, EDO (UK) Ltd., Fiber Innovations, Fiber Science, MTech & Artisan, and Specialty Plastics. The Defense Systems business unit is a designer and manufacturer of electronic assemblies for military and space applications, and the development and production of electromechanical systems and equipment for government and commercial marine and aircraft applications. The area of interest that falls within this sector includes the Aircraft and Armament Systems unit. EDO (UK) Ltd includes EDO MBM Technology Ltd in Brighton UK, and designs, develops and manufactures weapon interfacing (carriage and release) systems, cable assemblies and electrodynamic products for the aerospace and defense industries. The UK firm makes the EDO MBM Zero Retention Force Arming Unit. The Fiber Innovations business unit develops and manufactures composite structures for the aerospace, defense and commercial industries. This includes net shaped preform assemblies using braiding and woven fabrics, resin transfer molding (RTM) and vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VaRTM). Fiber Science designs and manufactures lightweight advanced fiber-reinforced composite products. This includes designing and producing composite structures using the latest in filament winding, laminating, resin-transfer-molding (RTM), and autoclave cure processing. The MTech product line consists of controller electronics for MIL-STD-1760 multiple carriage weapon suspension and release equipment, controller electronics for other weapon systems, related electronic subsystems, customized simulators and test sets. EDO Artisan advertised products include zero retention force arming units, helicopter blade crack indicators, and programmable DC power supplies, but the first of these products (the arming unit) is actually manufactured in the UK by EDO MBM Technology Ltd. Specialty Plastics is a supplier of advanced composite piping systems for marine and offshore oil platform applications.


Intelligence and Information Warfare

The
Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
and
Information Warfare Information warfare (IW) is the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology (ICT) in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. It is different from ''cyberwarfare'' that attacks computers, software, and ...
sector includes three business units: NexGen, EVI, and Impact Science & Technology. EDO NexGen develops, deploys, and supports custom end-to-end solutions for U.S. government organizations. Core competencies include systems engineering, systems integration, design and development of custom hardware and software, and operational support. EDO-EVI focuses on mission-driven research and development of custom communication systems for the U.S. Government. EVI specializes in rapid development and prototyping of hardware and software systems. EDO-IST (Impact Science & Technology) provides Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) systems and analysis support to the intelligence community, and advanced countermeasures and electronic systems to government agencies.


Professional and Engineering Services

The Professional and Engineering Services sector includes three business units: Acquisition and Logistics Management Operations, EDO-CAS, and Technical Services Operations. The Acquisition and Logistics Management Operations business unit provides advanced technology solutions, training and performance aids, acquisition logistics, strategic business solutions, warfare experimentation and analysis and engineering services. The EDO-CAS business unit provides engineering services, logistics support and weapons-systems analysis to the U.S. Department of Defense. The Technical Services Operations business unit provides Electronic Warfare engineering, systems maintenance, and flight test support services to the United States Air Force.


Undersea Warfare

The Undersea Warfare sector includes three business units: Defense Systems, Electro-Ceramics, and Naval Communications and Sonar System. Defense Systems is a designer and manufacturer of electronic assemblies for military and space applications, and the development and production of electromechanical systems and equipment for government and commercial marine and aircraft applications. The area of interest that falls within this sector includes the Shallow Water Influence Minesweep System (SWIMS). The Electro-Ceramics business unit provides ceramic-based products for defense and aerospace applications. These include underwater acoustic transducers and arrays for navigation and communication sonars for the US Navy and its prime contractors, seismic and offshore oil exploration, industrial positioning and actuation, and medical devices. The Naval Communications and Sonar Systems product line includes Underwater Acoustic Products, Surface Ship Command and Control and Combat Systems Integration, Data Link Products, Shore-Based Command and Control Systems, Information Management Systems (IMS).


Corporate governance

EDO's
Board of Directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
has adopted
corporate governance Corporate governance refers to the mechanisms, processes, practices, and relations by which corporations are controlled and operated by their boards of directors, managers, shareholders, and stakeholders. Definitions "Corporate governance" may ...
guidelines and charters for each of its board committees. These documents, together with the Company's Ethical Business Guide, are the foundation of EDO's corporate governance and business conduct practices. The board reviews its governance guidelines and committee charters at least annually to ensure that EDO maintains and improves on its practices. EDO's Director is Dennis C. Blair. Dennis C. Blair's membership on the board of directors of EDO Corporation, a subcontractor for the F-22 Raptor fighter program, and ownership of its stock was raised as a potential conflict of interest after the Institute for Defense Analyses issued a study that endorsed a three-year contract for the program. Blair told the Washington Post, "My review was not affected at all by my association with EDO Corp., and the report was a good one." He originally chose not to recuse himself because his link to EDO was not of sufficient "scale" to require it, but subsequently resigned from the EDO board to avoid any misperceptions. However, on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 the Washington Post reported that the US Department of Defense Inspector General's investigation into the affair found Blair had certainly violated the Conflict of Interest rules.


Criticism in the United States


2004 fine

In 2004 EDO Corporation was ordered to pay a fine of $2.5 million. This matter was related to activities of the former Condor Systems company, before EDO acquired assets of Condor Systems during their bankruptcy proceedings. Charges are laid out in a letter from the U.S. State Department to EDO President and CEO James Smith. Senior Vice President of Condor Systems, Fredric B. Bassett is EDO's Senior Vice President-Finance, Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer.


The Earmarks affair

EDO Corporation has made payments from its
Political Action Committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
, to the political funds of both Republican and Democratic Party candidates, but these have tended to be to politicians who are on important government military defence and procurement committees. Controversy has arisen over contributions, to Senators
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
,
Charles Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from New York, a seat he has held since 1999. A member of the Democratic Party, he has led the Senate Democratic Caucus si ...
and Congressman Steven Israel, who have then backed ' earmarked' government military contracts for EDO Corporation, soon afterwards. On December 27, 2005, the ''
New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American conservative news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) online-only publisher of political and economic opinion pieces, as we ...
'' reported that:
''Many of the companies and executives who won earmarks this year donated money not only to Senator Clinton, who sits on the
Senate Armed Services Committee The Committee on Armed Services, sometimes abbreviated SASC for Senate Armed Services Committee, is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defen ...
, and to Mr. Schumer, but also to Mr. Israel. And several of those designated for earmarks gave to members of the Joint Defense Appropriations Conference Committee, which wrote the New York projects into the defense spending bill.''<
On 20 September 2006, the ''New York Sun'' reported EDO had gained further government defense contacts after giving financial donations to Washington insiders.


EDO President James M. Smith and the 2006 Executive Excess Report

On 30 August 2006, EDO Corporation Chairman, CEO, and President, James M. Smith, was named in a report produced by the
Institute for Policy Studies The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) is an American Progressivism in the United States, progressive think tank, formed in 1963 and based in Washington, D.C. It was directed by John Cavanagh (economist), John Cavanagh from 1998 to 2021. In 202 ...
and
United for a Fair Economy United for a Fair Economy (UFE) is an American left-leaning nonprofit organization. Co-founded by Chuck Collins and Felice Yeskel in 1995, it describes itself as "raising awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corru ...
, entitled 'Executive Excess'. Smith was reported as having received one of the highest percentage pay raises of any CEO in America, as a direct result of the ' War on Terror' since 2001. His total compensation in 2006 was $1.8 million per year, up from $893,200 in 2001. In July 2006 Smith filed
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...
(SEC) data showing he had sacked 400 workers at a factory in California after his management team had failed to secure a lucrative contract for anti-IED devices. In September 2003 EDO was listed by Fortune magazine as number 10 in the top 100 fastest growing companies in the U.S. EDO have failed to make the top 100 at all in recent years because of financial troubles. and are now owned by
ITT Corporation ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesses ...
.


EDO Director Dennis C. Blair and the EDO-IDA scandal

Dennis C. Blair was until 2006 a Director of EDO Corp. He has also been a U.S. military commander and the Associate Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
for Military Support. He is on record as having knowledge of covert CIA operations within allied countries that were intended to influence political affairs for the benefit of US interests. On 25 July 2006, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' published an article by
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
–winning journalist R. Jeffrey Smith and Renae Merle."Leader of Panel that Endorsed Jet Program Has Ties to Contractor"
''The Washington Post'', July 25, 2006
This detailed links between a
think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
, the
Institute for Defense Analyses The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) is an American non-profit corporation that administers three federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) – the Systems and Analyses Center (SAC), Science and Technology Policy Institute, t ...
(IDA) that had been commissioned as an independent advisor to the Pentagon, and EDO Corporation. The article exposed serious issues arising out of Blair's joint positions as president of IDA and as a director of EDO Corp. The article was based on evidence gathered by a non-profit corruption watchdog, called the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) that had published a detailed report on the same day, entitled "Preying on The Taxpayer: The F22 Raptor." This report details evidence of a
conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...
between IDA and EDO Corporation. The POGO report describes how IDA had produced an independent study for the Pentagon, entitled ''F-22 A Multiyear Procurement Business Case Analysis,'' that advised the U.S. Congress that a multiyear procurement (MYP) of the
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...
F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is an American twin-engine, jet-powered, all-weather, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft. As a product of the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, the aircraft was de ...
could result in a cost savings, which is one of six requirements for issuing a multiyear procurement contract. The report did note, however, that this estimated cost savings was less than for other historical MYPs. Congress then approved the MYP, through a legislative amendment, proposed by Senator
Saxby Chambliss Clarence Saxby Chambliss (; born November 10, 1943) is an American lawyer and retired politician who was a United States Senate, United States Senator from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party (Unite ...
(GA), partly on the basis of the report's findings. The IDA report was the only one at the time that backed an F-22 program extension, in contrast with two other previous reports that had advised against it. A separate study by
RAND The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...
, however, commissioned in the wake of the IDA-EDO scandal, also estimated a cost savings associated with an F-22 MYP contract, which was actually larger than the estimated cost savings that IDA reported. The Chambliss amendment extended the production life of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor by three years, overturning a previous decision to phase out the fighter plane because of safety and performance problems, as well as its huge expense. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee, on 25 July 2006, POGO's Danielle Brian said: ''We do not know if Admiral Blair recused himself, or in any way affected the outcome of the IDA report. I would submit, however, that there is an appearance of a conflict of interest — given his substantial personal financial interest and his fiduciary responsibility to EDO—in the continued funding of the F-22A. This raises reasonable questions about the independence of IDA's analysis. EDO is an important sub contractor on the F22 program, being the sole supplier for the F22 AMRAAM vertical ejection launcher. As a director who owned shares in the company, Dennis Blair arguably stood to gain from any decision by Congress to extend the F22 program. '' On 27 July 2006, ''The Washington Post'' reported that Dennis Blair had revealed that he would resign from the board of EDO Corporation, 'as soon as possible,' because of the revelations. Dennis Blair then submitted his letter of resignation on 31 July 2006. On 13 September 2006, ''The Washington Post'' reported that Dennis Blair had resigned his position as president of the Institute of Defense Analyses after its trustees had found that a conflict of interest had occurred. Blair was asked to give up his other paid positions with military contractors, but he refused and instead chose to give up his position of president of IDA. On 20 September 2006, ''
Rolling Stone magazine ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known ...
'' published an article on the story entitled "Another Tale of Waste and Fraud Unpunished". On 28 September 2006, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that the F-22 multiyear contract had been approved by Congress despite opposition from
Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...
,
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
and the present and future chairmen of top U.S. Government military procurement committees. ''The New York Times'' suggested that the military industrial lobby that pushed the F-22 multiyear programme was more powerful than the elected officials who oversee government military spending including the
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
himself. On 1 December 2006, ''The Washington Post'' reported that the U.S. Inspector General had found that although Blair had indeed violated IDA's conflict of interest policy by working for both EDO and IDA at the same time, his actions had not affected IDA's results on the F-22. It also found that Blair's involvement in the IDA F-22 MYP study was "minimal," with no involvement in conducting the analysis or preparing or reviewing the report before it was finalized. Dennis C. Blair was replaced as an EDO director by General John A. Gordon (ret), who is closely linked to Blair. In 1996 Gordon replaced Blair as Associate Director for Military Affairs at the CIA, and in 2007 Blair and Gordon sit together on the council of SAFE, a corporate-military think tank tasked with finding solutions to the approaching energy crisis. In January 2009 Blair became
Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a Cabinet of the United States#Current Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials, cabinet-level Federal government of the United States, United States government intelligence and security official. The p ...
under President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
making him the highest ranking intelligence official in the US Government. He resigned this position in May 2010.


EDO Director Leslie Kenne and the Joint Strike Fighter contract

Lieutenant General Leslie Kenne spent 32 years in the United States Air Force. In 1997 she was appointed Director of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, the U.S. Department of Defense's largest ever military acquisition program with a budget of $30 billion. Lockheed Martin is the prime JSF program contractor. Lockheed Martin awarded EDO a contract on January 9, 2002 for the design, development and manufacture of a suite of pneumatic weapon delivery systems for the JSF. Kenne resigned from the USAF in September 2003 and shortly afterwards joined the board of directors of EDO Corporation.


EDO Director Paul Kern and allegations of war crimes at Abu Ghraib/EDO links with Titan Corporation

While still serving in the U.S. military General Paul Kern was appointed by Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...
to report on an internal investigation into the
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse During the early stages of the Iraq War, members of the United States Army and the Central Intelligence Agency were accused of a series of human rights violations and war crimes against detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. These abuses ...
. In August 2004 he presented the Fay Report largely absolving the military hierarchy of blame for the torture and sexual abuse. Kern blamed the torture in part on the civilian contractors working with
military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...
services in the prison. One of the companies involved was identified as Titan Corporation, a contractor that supplies technology and 'civilian interrogators' to military intelligence. (The company has close links to the US intelligence community. Former CIA director James Woolsey has served on its board of directors.) However Kern did not advise that Titan Corporation should be charged with any criminal offence. Kern had been picked by Rumsfeld to investigate the Military Intelligence operations at Abu Ghraib after an earlier report which had implicated them in the torture. This earlier report was called the
Taguba Report The Taguba Report, officially titled ''US Army 15-6 Report of Abuse of Prisoners in Iraq'', is a report published in May 2004 containing the findings from an official military inquiry into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse. It is named after Major Ge ...
and because of its controversial reference to 'systematic abuse' was kept secret until it was leaked to
Seymour Hersh Seymour Myron Hersh (born April 8, 1937) is an American investigative journalist and political writer. He gained recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer ...
of ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
''. In June 2007 Hersh published an article on Taguba who was forced to resign after submitting the report to Rumsfeld. A few enlisted U.S. soldiers were eventually convicted, and imprisoned as a result of the investigations. Titan Corporation sacked one of their employees Adel Nakhla who had admitted holding down prisoners who were being tortured. Another Titan employee John Israel, a 'civilian interrogator/interpreter' identified by the Taguba Report as one of the four main people believed to have been responsible for the
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
is suspected by some journalists including
Robert Fisk Robert William Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was an English writer and journalist. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. As an international correspo ...
of being an Israeli agent. In April 2008 the Bush Administration were ordered to release a memo under the Freedom of Information Act that showed it had approved torture techniques in 2003 and given legal argument support for the use of torture techniques. Kern retired shortly after the report came out and in January 2005 joined EDO Corporation as a director. Two of the other ten EDO Corporation directors who helped to elect him, James Roth and Robert M. Hanisee, were, and remain directors of Titan Corporation and as directors are open to charges of collusion and direct involvement in war crimes according to international law, but they have not been prosecuted by the United States legal system. Despite a lack of political will by the US Government to prosecute, Titan Corporation and
CACI CACI International Inc. (originally California Analysis Center, Inc., then Consolidated Analysis Center, Inc.) is an American multinational corporation, multinational professional services and information technology company headquartered in Nor ...
were nonetheless defendants in a civil action brought by victims of the torture in
Abu Ghraib Prison Abu Ghraib prison (, ''Sijn Abū Ghurayb'') was a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, located west of Baghdad. Abu Ghraib prison was opened in the 1960s and served as a maximum-security prison. From the 1970s, the prison was used by Saddam Hus ...
. The U.S.
Military Commissions Act of 2006 The Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. The Act's stated purpose was "to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of ...
effectively brought an end to such legal actions in the US. In 2005, Titan Corp. admitted bribery charges after it paid $2 million into the re-election fund of the President of Benin,
Mathieu Kérékou Mathieu Kérékou (; 2 September 1933 – 14 October 2015) was a Beninese politician who served as president of the People's Republic of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and the Benin, Republic of Benin from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a milita ...
. Kern is also a member of the Cohen Group which has as its CEO yet another EDO Corp director, Robert S. Tyrer.


Protest in the UK


Regular anti-war protests outside EDO (UK) factory

On 21 September 2006, protesters blockaded the EDO MBM factory in Brighton for several hours forcing the Managing Director Paul Hills to scale a security fence to enter the premises. He then used an angle grinder or wire cutters to cut a hole in the EDO's fence to let the employees in to work. The protesters left the scene without being arrested. On 16 September 2006, 100 protesters marched through Brighton to deliver a petition calling for the closure of EDO MBM to Brighton Town Hall. On 23 August 2006 two protesters climbed 40 feet onto the roof of EDO MBM Technology Ltd to unfurl a banner protesting the company's supply of weapons to Israel used in the Qana bombing in which 16 Lebanese children were killed. On 19 July 2006 protesters staged a 'Horrors of War' demonstration outside the Brighton factory recreating scenes of violence and mutilation that result from aerial bombardment. On the morning of 17 July 2006, three activists completely blockaded EDO's
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
subsidiary EDO MBM Technology Ltd in protest at EDO's supply of weapons technology to the Israeli military being used to attack Gaza and in the then ongoing
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...
. These are just a few actions in an ongoing campaign of protest, civil disobedience and non-violent direct action against EDO in Brighton that began in 2004 and has come to be known as the Smash EDO campaign.


Smash EDO campaign

There have been numerous protests and direct actions since 2004 voicing the opinion that EDO MBM should close or convert its factory to civilian use. In January 2009, during the
Gaza War The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
, activists raided EDO's factory in Moulsecombe and destroyed equipment. In 2010, a jury found the activists, who invoked the lawful excuse defence, according to which it can be lawful to commit an offence to prevent a more serious crime, not guilty of conspiring to cause criminal damage to the factory. Jonathan Hoffman, vice-chair of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, claimed the judge had "behaved more like the defence counsel than the neutral officer of the court that he was supposed to be. The role of a judge – far from advancing his own political agenda – is to clarify points of law to the lay members of the jury..."


The Zero Retention Force Arming Unit

The Zero Retention Force Arming Unit (ZRFAU) is a military electro mechanical device. EDO MBM Technology Ltd are sole owners of the proprietary rights to one such unit and act as technical support and design authority for its ongoing use and installation. The units are used in U.S. Navy BRU-32, BRU-41, BRU-42, BRU-45, the US Air Force BRU-46 & BRU-47, the Royal Australian Air Force MAU-12, the European Tornado HMERU & LMERU bomb racks. The ZRFAU is also used in the Israeli Military Industries (IMI) VER-2 Bomb Rack, a bomb rack also owned by EDO MBM Technology Ltd, and currently advertised for sale by a subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd in
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, '' Israeli Ministry of Defense'' for the Israeli air force F-16. Following investigations by campaigners into EDO MBM's links with Israel, and the submission of documents showing these links in court as part of a defence of Palestine Solidarity protesters, EDO MBM removed from their website a reference stating it was 'actively manufacturing' ZRFAUs, claiming this statement had been 'an error'. Directors of EDO(UK)Ltd, the parent company of EDO MBM admitted that a US subsidiary, Artisan Technologies, in New Jersey, did manufacture the component supplied to Israel. This subsidiary was owned by EDO UK from 2000 until it was sold in 2008. Despite the sale of the company officially manufacturing the ZRFAU, EDO MBM continue to be the sole point of contact for sales and technical support for the component from 2000 to the present day. In November 2009 the Information Tribunal looking at EDO MBM's export licence applications held by the Dept for Business (BIS) found "There was no dispute that the ERU151 and the ZRFAU are components which can be incorporated into VER-2 bomb racks for use with F-16 combat aircraft, that those aircraft are used by the Israeli air force, and that from 1998 EDO owned the right to manufacture the ERU151 and the ZRFAU.'" But "After examining the documents, it concluded the information did not confirm claims that EDO supplied Israel, and therefore the documents should remain confidential. It was then established that EDO MBM's involvement with the design, development, technical support and supply of the ZRFAU had been taking place without any apparent UK export controls, in an apparent breach of UK legislation. In June 2010 in the EDO Decommissioners Case a jury of twelve members of the UK public acquitted seven people of conspiracy to cause £180,000 criminal damage to the EDO MBM factory, on the grounds that their belief that EDO MBM had been supplying Israel with the ZRFAU at the time of
Operation Cast Lead Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
and by extension their belief that EDO MBM were complicit in war crimes carried out by Israel against the people of Gaza was a reasonable belief. It followed that it also reasonable to damage the factory to the tune of £180,000 in order to try and in some small way stop these Israeli war crimes and protect Palestinian property. Even Paul Hills, the Director of EDO MBM, had accepted during the trial that the activists belief was 'not unreasonable,' in light of all the documents that appeared to establish the fact, although as in previous sworn testimony over five years, he continued to deny any such involvement.


VER-2

VER- 2 means Vertical Ejector Rack (for) 2 (bombs), and is designed for the US produced F-16 and F-18. In the 1990s Lucas Western Corporation helped Israel Military Industries design a rack for Israeli F-16s. A
Jane's Defence Weekly ''Jane's Defence Weekly'' (abbreviated as ''JDW'') is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who ...
(JDW) article, in June 1996, stated that "Israel's F16s use VER-2 vertical ejection bomb racks made by Israeli Military Industries (IMI)" IMI later sold this part of its business to Elbit. In 2005 the managing director of EDO MBM admitted that the company had acquired all the rights to the VER-2 from Lucas Western in 1998 and had since been 'jointly marketing it for a third party country'. He stated under oath that he had removed references to the VER-2 from the EDO MBM website, after protests began in Brighton in 2004, to avoid controversy 2 In May 2009 managing director Paul Hills told The Argus: "I would and have stood up in court and sworn under oath that we don't supply to Israel, which is one of the things Smash EDO accuse us of."


EDO MBM and ''UN Peace Messenger City'' Brighton and Hove

EDO MBM was originally targeted by protesters because it represents the most direct link between the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
the Occupation of Palestine and the UK city of
Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administe ...
. The city council was the first in the country to be awarded United Nations Peace Messenger City status and yet it owns the land, Home Farm Business Park, on which EDO MBM's factory stands. EDO rent the property through a third party company, Europa Holdings Ltd, who hold a 125-year lease on the section of the park where EDO has its factory. Till early 2005 the same lease was held by Cheshire County Council. EDO MBM provided essential arming and release components for the
Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...
Paveway Paveway is a series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs). ''Pave'' or PAVE is sometimes used as an acronym for ''precision avionics vectoring equipment''; literally, electronics for controlling the speed and direction of aircraft. Laser guidance is a ...
'smart munitions' used extensively in the shock and awe bombing by US/UK forces at the outset of the Iraq war. This led to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. EDO MBM have been awarded a contract to provide components for the next generation Paveway IV 'fire and forget' smart bomb for the UK RAF. As a result of the apparent contradiction of being a peace messenger city while being the landlord of an arms company, Brighton City Council in July 2005 came close to passing a motion of censure against EDO MBM. At the end of a full council meeting, in which debate on the motion was refused on grounds of time limits, the council eventually passed a watered down amendment to the motion that struck out all mention of the company and instead resolved to raise a UN peace flag above the town hall on one day each year. In March 2007, shortly after a Green Party councillor had taken on the role of 'peace messenger' from a member of the ruling Labour Party group, Brighton council announced they were scrapping the peace messenger city status for financial reasons.


Injunction case: EDO MBM v Campaign to Smash EDO & others/EDO MBM v Axworthy & others

The ongoing protests led EDO MBM and its employees, in April 2005, to seek a permanent high court
injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...
against 14 named protesters and two protest groups ''Smash EDO'' and ''Bombs out Of Brighton'', on grounds of harassment. The intended injunction brought under Section 3 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, applied to all protesters, not only those named in the court papers (who in any case strongly denied the allegations). The case created controversy because it was seen by some as an unjustified measure used by a U.S. arms company to suppress the freedom to protest of UK anti-war protesters. Others, however, suggested that the court action was used in order to prevent harassment and violent crime. The company failed to gain a permanent injunction and dropped the action in early 2006, at a cost of several million dollars in legal costs.


Allegations of Sussex Police collusion with EDO MBM

In the course of the high court battle a temporary or interim injunction was imposed on all protesters until a full trial could deal with the full facts of the case. The restrictions on protests and the aggressive strategy of Sussex Police brought about by this injunction, led to dozens of arrests and public order criminal charges against protesters. Two protesters spent up to a week in Lewes prison (on remand) as a result of arrests for alleged breaches of the injunction. The first for using a video camera to gather evidence of an assault on a protester by a security guard, and the second for stepping into a road opposite the factory. These charges carried a penalty of up to five years in prison on conviction. The cases would have had
Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...
jury trials A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are increasingly used i ...
if not dropped by the CPS. Others were arrested after allegations that they had disobeyed police orders, assaulted police, or obstructed them in the enforcement of the injunction. After evidence came to light in the High Court that Sussex Police may have colluded with EDO Corporation to exaggerate the threat posed by demonstrators to the safety of employees, defence solicitors in related criminal cases began to investigate further. Then in what appeared to be a
domino effect A domino effect is the cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a series of similar or related events, a form of chain reaction. The term is an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically refers to a linked sequence of events ...
, the
Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...
proceeded to drop all criminal charges, against all protesters, in all related cases, in an effort to protect the confidentiality of internal Sussex police documents which may have helped defendants prove such collusion had taken place. In July 2006 13 official complaints against Sussex Police were filed by protesters alleging police collusion with the arms company.


EDO (UK) Chairman Sir Robert Walmsley questioned

Sir Robert Walmsley is a director of EDO Corporation, and is Chairman of the Board of EDO (UK), which includes EDO MBM Technology Ltd in Brighton. On 1 August 2004 ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' reported that Sir Robert Walmsley, Former Chief of Procurement at the UK Ministry of Defence, who retired in April 2003, had been called in by a UK government watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, to answer questions about his appointments to the board of Directors of
General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...
and EDO Corporation."Blair defies watchdog over jobs for the boys"
''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', August 1, 2004
General Dynamics was awarded the (£1.7 billion) Prime Contractor and Systems Integration contract for the BOWMAN secure, digital voice and data communications system in September 2001, while Walmsley was still in charge of MOD procurement. On retirement in April 2003 Warmsley was offered a lucrative directorship of General Dynamics. A government watchdog committee advised Walmsley not to take up the post for one year after he had retired from the MOD, to avoid the appearance of a 'reward' being given by General Dynamics to Walmsley. Walmsley publicly joined General Dynamics in April 2004. He had by then, already become a non-executive director on the board of British Energy. In ''The Independent'' report, UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
was said to have dismissed the watchdog recommendations that tighter rules were needed over such issues. In a later report published by ''The Independent'' on 26 December 2004, Blair was alleged to have helped 'mandarins' such as Walmsley, gain top jobs in the private sector, in defiance of anti-corruption committees. In May 2006, ''The Independent'' reported UK Government plans to scrap anti-corruption watchdog committees.


Sir Robert Walmsley and the Global Dominance Group

In 2006 Sir Robert Walmsley was named in a report 'The Global Dominance Group' produced by the US research group Project Censored. Walmsley is cited as one of 240 people considered as the world's top advocates of neo-conservative US global military domination.


Sir Robert Walmsley and the Al Yamamah arms scandal

Sir Robert Walmsley has also been linked to controversy over the Al Yamamah arms deal with
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
which was conducted in such secrecy that government National Audit Office reports into the deal remain classified. The deal has been associated with bribery and corruption allegations, and was the subject of a police investigation until dropped in controversial circumstances. Police were denied access to an NAO report because it is classified. A ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' report on 7 July 2006 reported, that judging from a list documents released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), that there had been two classified NAO reports rather that just one as previously thought."Second secret report on Saudi deal"
''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', July 7, 2006
The revelation came about through the title of one of the documents: ''"Letter from Sir Robert Walmsley, Chief of Defence Procurement to C&AG AO head Sir John Bournresponding to recommendations in draft audit findings - 30 March 1998"'' which apparently refers to a draft of a second secret NAO report.


References


External links


Parent company, Harris Corporation site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edo Corporation Former defense companies of the United States Manufacturing companies based in New York City Manufacturing companies established in 1947 1947 establishments in New York (state) Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2007 2007 disestablishments in New York (state) L3Harris Technologies