How Wales plays a part in Israeli campaign of genocide in Gaza

In the summer last year I remember hearing about Senedd Economy Minister Vaughan Gething blowing the horn about an advanced United States-based engineering company expanding its presence with a new centre of excellence at Cardiff Airport, St Athan, in the Vale of Glamorgan.

It immediately set off alarm bells but, as events in Gaza took centre stage soon after, my intent to look into Sierra Nevada Corporation Mission Systems UK’s long-term lease of space at the Bro Tathan business park dropped down my “to-do” list.

But with Elbit Systems’ weapons factory in Filton, Bristol, now coming under close scrutiny and facing continued protest because of its complicity in Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza I moved Sierra Nevada Corporation to the top of that to-do list, with some very disturbing revelations about its close ties with the Israeli military coming to light and its supply of drones to the terrorist state.

Interestingly the Welsh government, which owns Bro Tathan, played a major part in convincing the company to step up its presence in Wales. Way to go guys!

In July last year, when the new lease was unveiled, Gething said: “The Welsh government is working to develop the industries of the future here in Wales, which will create good, well-paid new jobs for people across the country.

“I’m delighted the Welsh government has been able to attract one of the USA’s fastest growing companies to Wales. As a blue-chip company in future technology. I’m particularly pleased the company have committed to employing service veterans, which allows them to utilise their considerable knowledge, skills and networks.”

Sierra Nevada Corporation Mission Systems, the UK subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation, already employed 46 people at the site but with the new deal kickstarted plans to significantly upgrade its hanger’s infrastructure at Bro Tathan, with more than 1,000 people now employed.

According to a report on the BuisnessLive website the company employs experts in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in an effort to “create the development of new solutions to critical defence and security problems”. The company also partners with local universities to support academic research in the most current technological fields.

“We are excited to offer our customers increased performance and access to previously unavailable capabilities with our new centre of excellence,” Sierra Nevada Corporation Mission Systems UK managing director Hywel Baker said.

That BusinessLive report came out almost five years to the day after The Times Of Israel website revealed the company had signed a “strategic collaboration agreement” with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to jointly develop new drones that can take off and land vertically.

The “new tactical vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft system” will be developed for the US military market, Israel’s largest aerospace and defence company said in a statement.

“The companies see great potential in this collaboration for special mission applications in the American tactical UAS market over the next decade, as the increased use of unmanned aircraft continues to enhance the operational flexibility, safety and effectiveness of US military air operations,” the statement revealed.

So, that’s pretty clear, a company operating out of St Athan is closely affiliated with IAI in developing drones for the US military, which is carrying out offensive operations in the Middle East in conjunction with Israel’s campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza to destabilise the region as part of the World Economic Forum-backed strategy to foment a global conflict. Lovely, top trumps Vaughan!

And just 10 months before its expansion at St Athan, Sierra Nevada Corporation also finalised its acquisition of drone developer Volansi with plans to use its “unmanned aerial vehicle” technologies to support a variety of industries and “deliver anything, anywhere, anytime”.

Volansi, on the brink of bankruptcy, had been struggling for some time and the deal saw Sierra Nevada acquire its production facility in Oregon and the company’s portfolio of assets and intellectual property related to the Voly 50 VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft and the Volansi Voly-T series of UAVs.

According to an Autoevolution report the security company aims to deliver “the future of unmanned systems with the payload, range and endurance that the military needs” and that can support both ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) and “humanitarian aid missions”. Humanitarian aid, that made me laugh, don’t expect they’ve got any intention of using it to feed those innocent children and civilians starving in Gaza!

The report added: “Both the Voly-50 and the Voly-T series of aerial drones can take off and land vertically and are infrastructure-independent. Volansi’s technologies will be combined with Sierra Nevada Corporation’s sensor integrations and ISR capabilities, helping it come up with a rapidly deployable ISR VTOL solution for various types of operations.”

And that’s not the end of it, just a month after Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza kicked off with the complicity of the US and UK, Washington awarded Sierra Nevada a US$554 million contract to provide jets for the “Theatre Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next Aerial-Signals Intelligence” programme.

In November last year the company announced it would provide its new RAPCON-X family of ISR aircraft to support the US Army’s ATHENA-S project, a prelude to its High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) programme expected to be launched before 2030. HADES, got that? Lord of the underworld in Greek mythology!

“This award is the direct result of SNC’s commitment to putting ‘skin in the game’ and staying one step ahead by anticipating challenges and innovating solutions years in advance,” Tim Owings, executive vice president for mission solutions and technologies at Sierra Nevada, said in a statement. “Our born-digital design process and engineering techniques place RAPCON-X among the most capable and rapidly configurable A-ISR platforms worldwide.”

A C4ISRNET report notes the US military is in the midst of revamping its aerial reconnaissance and electronic warfare arsenals, moving away from Cold War-era planes towards a future where battlefield insights are gleaned from dramatic distance, with long-reaching firepower to match... and it seems Sierra Nevada, operating out of Bro Tathan, is a leader in that field.

Does that fill you with pride, knowing that Wales is complicit in the US’s leading role in pushing the planet to the brink of World War III through its war mongering in the Middle East?

Apparently the ISR investments come as the US Department of Defence “prepares for potential large-scale conflict with Russia and China”. Could that possibly be because it was instrumental in those WEF meetings strategically mapping out the road to global conflict?

“The Army is paying particular attention to what’s known as deep sensing, or the capacity to find, monitor, target and kill from farther away and with finer precision,” the report says. Kill from farther away eh, just like playing a computer game!

And according to Bombardier Defense Vice-President Steve Patrick: “A number of senior US military leaders, including combatant commanders in their most recent posture statements to Congress, have noted that the US needs enhanced ISR capabilities to maintain domain awareness.

“Our Global 6500 aircraft platform – in SNC’s RAPCON-X configuration – allows the military to close the ISR gap, to sense deeper and further, and loiter over theatre for longer than previous fixed-wing aircraft.”

At the end of last year Bombardier Defense won a contract from Washington to provide the Global 6500 aircraft to serve as a prototype airframe for a new spy plane programme.

HADES will be the first ISR aircraft in the US Army that uses a large-cabin business jet with “advanced deep-sensing capabilities and will operate at higher altitudes than legacy turboprop platforms”, according to Colonel Joe Minor, the US Army’s project manager for fixed-wing aircraft.

“Higher altitudes equate to an ability to sense farther and more persistently into areas of interest,” he said. ”Deep sensing is the army’s number-one operational imperative for the army of 2030.”

All I can say, tongue firmly in cheek, is well done Vaughan, way to go in bringing Sierra Nevada to St Athan! I’m sure many people reading this are aware Gething is a leading candidate to replace Mark Drakefod as Wales’ first minister. If successful, who knows, perhaps we can look forward to even more great news about Wales’ cooperation with Israel in making genocide easier to commit in other parts of the world? What do you think, would that be good?