American company punished for selling military technology to Russia
A representative of the American company Rocky Mountain in a Colorado court admitted the sale of military technology abroad without the consent of the US Department of State. The firm was sentenced to a $ 1 million fine, which is what the company earned in two years of deliveries. Had the firm turned to the State Department, it would most likely have received permission - in the list of partner countries of the firm, in addition to Russia and China, were the closest allies of the United States: Turkey and South Korea.
The management of the American company Rocky Mountain Instrument Co. (RMI) has pleaded guilty to the illegal transfer of military technology used by the US military to Russia, South Korea, China and Turkey, prosecutors said.
Company representatives made this statement on Wednesday night Moscow time at a federal court hearing in Denver, Colorado. The company is accused on one count - the sale of military technology without permission, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the Associated Press.
Now RMI will have to pay a fine of $ 1 million - this is the amount, according to the US prosecutor's office, it earned on illegal contracts.
The US authorities claim that RMI supplied military products to four countries: the Russian Federation, China, Turkey and South Korea - from April 1, 2005 to October 11, 2007, without the official permission of the US State Department. At the same time, it is not known what prevented the company from applying for such a permit: it is clearly not a fact that it would not have received such a license.
Rocky Mountain Instrument Co. was founded in 1957 in Colorado. The company, headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, specializes in the production of optical components for the armament of the American army, as well as special lenses for laser used in the manufacture of modern weapons. Some of the technologies RMI is working on are currently being actively used by the US military in Afghanistan.
Note that Russia has recently shown an increasing interest in the use of a number of foreign technologies in the defense sphere. However, the country prefers to acquire access to such opportunities legally.
As reported by the VZGLYAD newspaper, the Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that, for example, the purchase of Mistral-class helicopter carriers from France is of interest to Russia solely on the condition that the appropriate technologies are transferred.
“Are we going to buy the Mistral or not? This is a good deal for French producers. One such helicopter carrier costs somewhere in the region of 300 million euros. For us, this deal can only be of interest if it is carried out with parallel technology transfer,”said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the eve of his visit to Paris in early June. According to the prime minister, solving the issue of parallel technology transfer is important so that "our shipbuilding - both military and civilian - would receive new technological impulses for development."
At the end of May, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that they were studying foreign experience in creating armored vehicles using the so-called capsule booking method and would not mind acquiring the appropriate licenses abroad.
“We are able to create equipment that will be at the level of foreign samples. To do this, it is necessary to thoroughly, without hesitation, study foreign experience: it is necessary to take from there the best technical and design solutions. There is nothing wrong with that,”said Major General Alexander Shevchenko, head of the Main Armored Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry.
Note that the Ministry of Defense already has experience in acquiring military equipment abroad: in 2009, Russia purchased a trial batch of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Israel, a recognized world leader in the production of such vehicles. At the same time, priority was given to Israeli vehicles over domestic developments, the samples of which at that time were considered not good enough by the military department.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Defense does not plan to buy Israeli equipment in 2010, and the production of such devices will be organized on the territory of Russia. This, in particular, was announced on June 14 by Vladimir Popovkin, who served as deputy defense minister for armaments. On Tuesday, June 22, Popovkin was appointed First Deputy Defense Minister, continuing to oversee the technology sector. At the same time, informed experts in an interview with the VZGLYAD newspaper expressed the opinion that Popovkin would become “the number two man” in the Ministry of Defense.
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov previously announced that his department will purchase domestic UAVs if the defense industry is able to produce vehicles that meet the requirements of the military. Currently, seven Russian-made unmanned aerial systems such as ZALA-421-05, Irkut-10 and Orlan are undergoing operational tests on the border of Russia with Kazakhstan.
However, a new stage in the development of weapons, in which priority is given not only to improving the development of Russian design bureaus, but also to cooperation with foreign companies, helps to solve not only military tasks. According to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, "cooperation in such a sensitive area as military-industrial production certainly leads to increased trust between countries."
