Wed, Feb 29, 2012
Scandals Have Officials Afraid To Take Responsibility For
Acquisitions
Sometimes US military procurement is strangled by Congressional
gridlock, or special interests fighting through their lawmakers to
win contracts. But in India, new reports say procurement
investigations over the last 30 years have so tainted the process
that government officials are afraid to take responsibility for
approving contracts, for fear they'll spend the rest of their
careers under suspicion.
Reuters reports the latest allegations of kickbacks and other
improprieties involve the $720 million purchase of 12 AW101
helicopters (pictured) from AgustaWestland. On Monday, blogger
Neil Munshi
noted, "Finmeccanica’s shares fell sharply on the news
and the company denied any wrongdoing. Analysts said the
investigation could be a result of paralysis in (defense)
procurement caused by the trauma of previous scandals."
Current AgustaWestland CEO Giuseppe Orsi was named to his post
after a corruption probe was blamed for driving out his
predecessor, Pier Francesco Guarguaglini. The contract which is the
subject of the new reports was signed two years ago, after Orsi
took the helm.
Munshi quotes Uday Bhaskar, defense analyst and former
commodore, as noting the chilling effect of investigations on
efforts to modernize India's military. Bhaskar explains, "India is
weighed down by the (1980s) Bofors cross and the (1999 Kargil War)
coffin scam. And as a result, major military inventory deals have
been slowed down because nobody wants to sign on the dotted
line...there would be an inquiry that would follow them forever and
ever."
The original Reuters report quoted official sources at
Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland's parent company, as responding,
"AgustaWestland is not involved in any irregularity concerning the
supply of helicopters in India. No notice related to the
investigations has been served."
The new AW101 helicopters covered by the contract are intended
to replace aging Russian Mi-8 models used for government executive
transport.
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