« Responder #114 em: Agosto 01, 2004, 12:33:38 am »
Marine One: Former Senator, Now Sikorsky Consultant, Blasts US-101 For Jobs Claims.
In his years in the US Senate, Malcolm Wallop tackled a lot of defense issues. Now, as a consultant to Sikorsky on its bid for the executive helicopter project, VXX (or 'Marine One' ) Wallop says award of the contract would mean an overall loss of high tech jobs from the military helicopter industry in the US. Instead, jobs would go overseas to Italy and the UK.
Claims of any new jobs are false, he says. New work created by the contract coming to the US would be taken from other parts of the aerospace industry.
Wallop is out with his claim under the banner of being chairman of the Frontiers of Freedom foundation, a lobbying group based in Oakton, Va., But his survey of the job situation was produced on contract to Sikorsky. The PR firm, Edleman, which does work for the latter in the run-up to contract award, released Wallop's remarks.
In them, he calls on 'Italy's AgustaWestland' to stop what he says are misleading claims on the issue. 'It is simply disingenuous for these companies to claim they will be creating new jobs,' he says.
He also goes on the attack over marketing and political lobbying activities by the team, which he claims routinely over-state the jobs issue. He is particularly critical of the team's role in a visit by Sen Hillary Clinton (Dem, NY) to Lockheed Martin's Owego facility, which is in her state.
In other criticisms, Wallop says AgustaWestland stands to receive $1.7-billion, or about 68 percent of the value of the contract if they win. And he goes back to old press cuttings to support a view that the Brits and Italians may be pitching the US-101 as an 'American' helicopter knowing it to be false.
The full text of the release follows:
(Washington, DC) – Frontiers of Freedom chairman and former U.S. Senator Malcolm Wallop today called on Italy’s AgustaWestland and partner Lockheed Martin to put an end to their misleading claims about the number of jobs they would create if granted the Navy’s Marine One helicopter contract.
'It’' simply disingenuous for these companies to claim they will be creating new jobs,' said Wallop. 'If they got the contract, they would merely shift jobs from existing U.S. manufacturers to their companies, but even that would cause a net loss in U.S. jobs because many high-value, engineering and technology-related positions will be going to Italy.'
Lockheed Martin and AugustaWestland have been holding publicity events and making job-related announcements in several states over the past several months, including a groundbreaking for a “Presidential Helicopter Program Office” in Maryland, visits by Sen. Hillary Clinton to Lockheed’s Owego campus in New York, and a recently announced deal with a company owned by Choctaw Indians in Mississippi to build wiring harnesses. By their own admission, AgustaWestland and Lockheed Martin will build 35 percent of the helicopters’ content in Europe, a figure that represents 1500 European jobs based on the size of the Marine One contract.
Wallop cited a recent study by Goldman Sachs that estimated AgustaWestland stands to receive nearly $1.7 billion, or roughly 68 percent of the Marine One contract, if their bid prevails over Connecticut-based Sikorsky, the incumbent manufacturer. Sikorsky has been building and servicing the Marine One fleet since the helicopters began Presidential service in the Eisenhower Administration.
Wallop also cited remarks by Kevin Smith of GKN, the former British parent company of AugustaWestland, as additional evidence for the need to have the Italian company come clean on the jobs story. In The Guardian's August 8, 2003 story 'Blair and Berlusconi Lobby Bush for Helicopter Deal,' Smith was quoted as saying: 'you never know, you might just see the president climbing into a foreign helicopter.' Westland's pubic relations director, David Bath, has gone on record in a January 10, 2004 story in the Western Daily Press saying 'the aircraft will be largely sourced and completed in the U.S. to satisfy its need for it to be an American helicopter. But we will certainly make the first four in Yeovil (England).'
'It's time to stop the jobs facade and let American taxpayers know what's really at stake in this competition. If AgustaWestland and Lockheed Martin win the competition, there will be a net loss in U.S. jobs plain and simple,' said Wallop. 'Perhaps the pending European Commission lawsuit against Italy for anti-competitive practices in granting helicopter contracts to Agusta will infuse a greater sense of fairness into this team.'
Agusta and the Italian government made news earlier this month when the European Commission decided to refer Italy to the European Court of Justice for the country's history of awarding helicopter contracts directly to Agusta, without competition and in violation of laws intended to promote transparency, better service to taxpayers, and to prevent corruption. The Italian Government owns roughly one-third of Agusta.
In a similar contract competition, the Government of Canada last week announced that it had selected Sikorsky’s H92 over AgustaWestland's EH101 after a thorough pre-qualification and evaluation process.
Malcolm Wallop served for 18 years in the United States Senate representing the state of Wyoming. His tenure included serving on the Senate Arms Control Observer Group and the Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Senator Wallop has written numerous articles on defense and foreign policy. He is currently a Senior Fellow with the Heritage Foundation where he writes and speaks on issues of foreign policy and national defense. Wallop is working on behalf of Sikorsky Aircraft in support of their bid for the Marine One contract.
