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<\/a>REUTERS<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
by<\/span> KRISTINA WONG The sale, approved by the State Department and privately notified to Congress on January 19, would allow Kenya to buy 14 weaponized crop-duster-like planes \u2014 including two trainer planes and services, for missions against terrorist group al-Shabaab.<\/p>\n The deal was publicly announced the Monday after Trump\u2019s inauguration.<\/p>\n A handful of lawmakers, led by Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), are questioning why the contract to produce the planes was awarded to major defense firm L3 Technologies \u2014 which has never produced such a plane \u2014 while a smaller, disabled veteran-owned company in North Carolina that already make those planes at a lower cost\u00a0was not considered.<\/p>\n The Mooresville, N.C. company, IOMAX USA Inc., costed out 14 planes at $237 million dollars, according to a Budd aide.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks like politics,\u201d Budd said in a phone interview with Breitbart News on Monday. \u201cWhy are they sending it to someone that\u2019s produced zero, for twice the price? This is inappropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n Later this week, Budd and several other GOP congressmen are planning to request the non-partisan investigation.<\/p>\n It is not just Republicans puzzled by the matter. Georgia Democrat Sanford Bishop will join Republicans in signing a letter being sent to the Kenyan ambassador to the U.S. on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The letter, obtained first by Breitbart News, says, \u201cWe believe Kenya would benefit by exploring its options in regard to this acquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe ask that the Government of Kenya take these facts, in particular the prospect of an ongoing congressional investigation of this sale, under consideration as it decides whether or not to proceed with this arms purchase,\u201d says the letter.<\/p>\n The request for an investigation comes after the lawmakers have unsuccessfully tried to figure out how the New York-based L3 received the \u201csole-source\u201d primary contract, which means there is only one known source for the equipment requested, or only one single supplier that can fulfill the requirements.<\/p>\n IOMAX was unaware of the contract until the State Department, which approves all foreign military sales, publicly announced it on Jan. 23, the Monday after Trump was sworn in.<\/p>\n Typically, with a foreign military sale, an ally would notify and work with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a Pentagon agency, to request weapons.<\/p>\n DSCA would then work with the nation to specify requirements and write a Letter of Request for the weapons. The letter would be sent to an \u201cimplementing agency.\u201d After price and other details are worked out, the Pentagon would issue a recommendation, and the State Department would approve or disapprove the sale. The DSCA would receive about a four percent cut of the total sale.<\/p>\n Lawmakers suspect, though have no evidence, that in this case, the implementing agency \u2014 an Air Force acquisition office, known as the \u201cBig Safari\u201d at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, steered the contract to L3.<\/p>\n The Air Force directed all inquiries to DSCA and the State Department, which is in charge of the process.<\/p>\n A State Department official, in emails obtained by Breitbart News, said in justifying L3\u2019s selection that the Kenyan Ministry of Defense \u201cconducted extensive market research.\u201d At the same time, the official said the State Department did not possess that research. An Air Force official also said in an email that it was not provided the market research.<\/p>\n Lawmakers question whether Kenya did its own extensive research. The aide said Kenya initially requested MOOG, an ordnance company, to produce the planes, according an Air Force response to congressional inquiries.<\/p>\n That request somehow got \u201cclarified\u201d to L3, who will modify the requested Air Tractor planes into weaponized versions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that the Air Force likely did something that had MOOG get replaced with L3,\u201d the aide said.<\/p>\n The aide said it doesn\u2019t make sense, especially since IOMAX first began producing the weaponized planes in 2009 and has dropped more than 2,000 bombs on al-Shabaab already.<\/p>\n IOMAX had used the Air Tractor airframe in its earlier versions, but switched to Thrush, based in Albany, Georgia. It currently has almost 50 of the planes in service, including in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Jordan, the aide said.<\/p>\n The planes were first designed after the Army\u2019s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment requested them for Yemen, the aide said. IOMAX\u2019s founder, Ron Howard, is a retired Army aviator with the unit. He founded the company with his son in 2001.<\/p>\n Budd said he is looking out for jobs in North Carolina. IOMAX, which takes in about $1 billion a year in sales compared to L3\u2019s $10 billion, has 115 employees in his district, with 49 percent of them veterans who make an average of $115,000 a year \u2014\u00a0many of them special operations forces veterans.<\/p>\n \u201cOur first interest is to look out for jobs in the district. These are guys who are cutting sheet metal and doing rivets at the same time as those who are installing weaponized system\u2026It\u2019s a whole work force down there,\u201d Budd said. \u201cIt\u2019s infuriating that they\u2019d be cut out of a deal like this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey have to earn this deal on their own,\u201d he added. \u201cWe can\u2019t get the deal for them. But we want them to have a fair shot at it\u2026They shouldn\u2019t catch the brunt of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n The L3 contract would primarily benefit its Platform Integration Division in Waco, Texas. An L3 spokesman did not respond to a phone call asking for comment.<\/p>\n Budd said the current deal is not a good one for the Kenyans either. He met with the Kenyan Deputy Chief of Mission last Monday, who was allegedly \u201cflabbergasted\u201d they were potentially paying almost $200 million more than necessary.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had several Kenyans reach out and thank us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Several Kenyan analysts also questioned the sale on Twitter, with the accompanying hashtag #KDFWeaponsScam. KDF is short for Kenyan Defense Force.<\/p>\n We could have bought 5 of these Bell Boeing V-22 Ospreys at the $418 million expenditure #KDFWeaponsScam<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/2XXdS9g7VT<\/a><\/p>\n
\nBreitbart.com<\/span><\/p>\nA group of lawmakers is planning to request a congressional investigation of a $418 million U.S. weapons sale to Kenya approved by the Obama administration on its last day in office.<\/h2>\n
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