ITT Corporation has a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to to manufacture night vision goggles for our Troops and has sold the technology to China, Singapore and Britain.
So much for American Soldiers owning the night.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The leading manufacturer of night vision gear for the Defense Department has admitted sending classified materials overseas and will pay a $100 million penalty, according to federal prosecutors, who say the actions of ITT Corp. have jeopardized the security of U.S. soldiers.
ITT, based in Roanoke, Va., exported classified or sensitive technical data to China, Singapore and Britain without having obtained authorization from the United States, prosecutors said.
The conviction is the first involving a major defense contractor violating the Arms Export Control Act, prosecutors said.
Saying that American soldiers are ‘the principal victims of ITT’s crimes,’ U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said he has structured the $100 million penalty so that half of the money is spent by ITT to develop a next-generation night vision system and ‘ensure that our soldiers have the best night vision equipment in the world.’
Let me see if I have this straight. ITT Corp sold sensitive military technology to other countries. ITT Corp has admitted this and has seriously compromised the safety of American Troops.
Their punishment for this act of TREASON is to pay a fine and to get ANOTHER CONTRACT to develop newer, better night vision technology for our Troops.
Well, I guess that hurt them bad. I suppose they said they were really really sorry and pinky-promised to never ever do THAT again, huh???
I’m told that during the Vietnam War night vision technology was used and everyone was aware that if they were captured or injured their last act should be to destroy their goggles so that the technology would not get into the hands of the enemy. Now days, apparently, the company that makes the goggles can sell it to other countries and is rewarded with a new contract as long as they promise not to do it again!!!
George Bush - YOU need to work just a TAD harder at making sure people know if they cross the United States there will be consequences they won’t want to pay. This environment of greed and ‘everything and anything is okay as long as you WIN’ is dangerous. Mr. President, you have not shown enough strength and we are seeing a FREE FOR ALL at the expense of the American people and the American Troops.
Raven, at And Rightly So is outraged and notes that ITT Corp has been OUTSOURCING the work to save money. In other words, people in India have been handling this technology so that ITT can get RICHER. Why would someone from India worry about American security????
Not only that, but this has been under investigation since August 2001!! So while we’ve BEEN AT WAR the Defense Department has been investigating one of it’s major contractors for selling military secrets overseas WHILE continuing to contract with them.
President Bush - WHERE ARE THE CONSEQUENCES for ITT Corporation for this?? Will you allow our Troops to be the only ones who will suffer consequences for this company’s greed??
I hate no one seems to consider just doing the right thing anymore.
More information on ITT’s outsourcing to Singapore here.
March 27th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Thanks for the link…I am SO ANGRY about this.
WHO knows what else is being done behind the backs of our troops.
March 27th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
You’re right - who knows what else. This is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Whatever happened to honor and integrity and love of country???
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Yes, this is totally crappy at the hands of a corporation trying to make a buck… not the first time they have done something fishy, that could hurt the american people.
But one clarification: The “new contract” to continue to improve the goggles isn’t really a contract. They have to spend $50mil in 5 years out of their own money to improve the goggles (free of charge), and then give up the rights to them once they are done. In other words spend the money to develop something that someone else will make the buck on.
Peanuts compared to their profit line, but still something.
BSC: Thanks for the clarification. That sounds better.
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:25 pm
before publishing, you should get your story straight. ITT didn’t sell anything, especially secrets. they sent a pair of goggles to a foreign nation prior to a sale that was basically blessed by the department of state, however the license for the actual sale had not gone through prior to sending the goggles. The possibility of that nation being able to “reverse engineer” the goggles was the issue. no drawings, no specs, no part numbers or subvendors was sent. without the experience and techniques, there is nothing this foreign nation could have done to build these goggles anyway. ITT is not the only defense company that does business with foreign nations, especially in the area of defense. the $100 million dollar fine was punishment: 1/2 goes to the govt. the other half is used to develop the technology of night vision, which normally the government would pay for. ITT also has to train all of its American employees about ITAR regulations for the next 5 years, which is a lot of money as well if you consider the training takes at least 3 days out of the year for thousands of employees. ITT has served this nation well: they provide singars radios (since the Vietnam era), night vision goggles (again since the 1960s), meteorological instruments to the world. ITT donates services and funds to needy areas across the world. Their meteorological instruments confirmed the path of Katrina so that Louisiana could warn its people to evacuate, they were in new Orleans with their pumps after Katrina, they sent mediators and equipment to burma after the cyclones, they assisted china after the earthquakes. ITT is a major corporation that employs more than 55,000 people worldwide (so they aren’t outsourcing anything, they operate in china already!) defense is only 15% of its total business. ITT supports America and is more charitable and supportive of the American troops than most any other defense company. At least it doesn’t offer fake $200 K positions to airforce procurement officers (Boeing) or makes deals for civilian space programs that are funded through the back door by inflating navy contracts (Raytheon).