Choosing Raytheon over the lives of our military

The Bush administration is allowing our military men and women to be exposed to death by RPG's in order to protect their favorite defense contractor, Raytheon. Is anyone really surprised by this? You shouldn't be.

Did the Army block Israeli anti-RPG system?

In the summer of 2005, Army engineers — working with a team from the Navy — analyzed six systems to defend against rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Their conclusion? Trophy was the "best candidate," the "most technically advanced" and the "most technically mature system." PDF link

Pentagon sources and Army documents obtained by NBC News strongly suggest top Army officials consider Trophy a threat to a $160 billion program called the Future Combat System (FCS). Under FCS, the Army is paying Raytheon $70 million to build an anti-RPG system from scratch; a system that won’t be ready until 2011.

The Army denies that FCS and the Raytheon contract had anything to do with it. In a Sept. 6, 2006, "Information Paper" PDF link to Congress disputing NBC News' reports, an Army official wrote:

Assertion 6. Pentagon sources tell NBC News that the Army brass considers the Israeli system a threat to an Army program to develop an RPG defense system from scratch.
A6 False. The Army does not consider the TROPHY system as a threat…

But an internal Army document obtained by NBC News reveals that Army officials actually cited FCS as a reason to block battle testing Trophy. Continued