Welsh Government defends aiding ‘Saudi bombs’ arms firm
THE Welsh Government has defended giving grant aid to an American defence company that supplies Saudi Arabia with military hardware.
Together with Raytheon the government invested £1m in a site in Deeside which maintains RAF spy planes.
But concern has mounted about Raytheon’s commercial relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has been involved since 2014 in trying to suppress a rebellion against the government of neighbouring Yemen.
Last November it was estimated that more than 233,000 people had died in the conflict, many as a result of aerial bombing.
The Campaign Against the Arms Trade states on its website: “Raytheon Technologies is one of the world’s largest arms companies. It was formed in 2020 following the merger of Raytheon and United Technologies.
“Prior to the merger, Raytheon described its missile systems business as ‘the world’s premier missile maker, providing defensive and offensive weapons for air, land, sea and space’.
“Raytheon’s Paveway IV guided bombs are manufactured in Harlow and Glenrothes in the UK.
“They have been documented by Human Rights Watch as being used against civilian structures in Yemen.
“The UK Government has confirmed that it accelerated delivery of Paveway precision-guided bombs in response to Saudi requests for additional UK support.”
The left-wing podcast channel Desolation Radio tweeted: “Raytheon bomb wiped out civilians in Yemen. Raytheon are a big employer in Wales and – as usual – have received significant Welsh Government funding. ‘Internationalism’, Welsh Labour style.”
A spokesman for the Welsh Government said: “The Raytheon facility in Wales, based at Broughton in Flintshire, is responsible for carrying out maintenance, repair and overhaul of MoD surveillance aircraft.”
The spokesman added: “It was these aircraft that were successful in searching for and finding Nigerian schoolgirls taken hostage by Boko Haram a number of years ago.”
A statement on Raytheon’s website says: “Raytheon Saudi Arabia is a defense, aerospace and cybersecurity company that supports the Kingdom’s military and civil defense requirements, as well as its longterm economic vision.
“The company, based in [the Saudi capital] Riyadh, makes and integrates air and missile defense radars, precision weapons, command-andcontrol systems, and cybersecurity solutions.
“It also provides support services related to the use of those products. Raytheon Saudi Arabia builds on more than 50 years of partnership between Raytheon and the Kingdom.”