SPOTLIGHT

Lies and deception over cannon deal

By Frederica Jansz

This week The Sunday Leader can commend Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for having stood firm, having listened to grave concerns raised by a cabinet minister with regard to the purchase of military equipment for the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and taking remedial measures.

The approach of the Premier is a refreshing change from President Chandrika Kumaratunga's style of attacking the messenger.

Wickremesinghe in recent weeks was heavily criticised by The Sunday Leader for his apparent lethargy in addressing matters of bribery and corruption, most charges of which have been leveled against his own cabinet ministers.

This time Wickremesinghe has acted fast and deferred a multi million dollar purchase that is not being made in the best interest of the military or the nation.

The purchase of 15 units of cannons for the Sri Lanka Navy the cabinet sub committee on budgets and tenders last week decided would be reevaluated. The meeting last Monday August 25, was called following strong concerns raised by Lands Minister Rajitha Senaratne at the cabinet meeting the previous week.

The meeting last Monday was chaired by Finance Minister K. N. Choksy and attended by Ministers Bandula Gunewardena, Rukman Senanayake and Dr. Rajitha Senaratne. The others present included Advisor to the Prime Minister R. Paskaralingam, Treasury Secretary Charitha Ratwatte, Defence Secretary Austin Fernando, Navy Chief, Daya Sandagiri and the Navy's former chief of staff, Rear Admiral D. K. Dassanayake together with some officials from the Treasury. Dassanayake was before the committee with Senaratne to make representations on the dangers of proceeding with the cannon deal.

Rajitha Senaratne stood firm and argued his point substantiated with documentary evidence that the purchase of 15 units of 30 mm guns from the state owned Rafael Company in Israel is not only exorbitant in price but is the same make of cannons presently fitted onto the navy's Fast Gun Boats (FGMs) which have been proved to be unimpressive and to a large degree faulty. 

Repeated failures

So much so that in October 1999, three years after 10 of these guns had been purchased from Royal Ordnance (RO) in the UK, RO at a presentation made to the then commander of the navy, Vice Admiral H. Tissera stated in writing that it recognised the repeated failures of the GCM A03-2 30 mm naval weapons system of which the gun itself is the Oerlikon KCB 30 mm cannon.

What is even more stupefying is that Rafael in Israel is selling this gun together with an upgrading kit which consists of software and tools to integrate the gun onto the existing Rafael mounts on the navy's Fast Attack Crafts (FACs) at a price that is three times more than that offered by the manufacturers of the American Bushmaster 30 mm cannon which has been proved to be far superior to the Oerlikon KCB 30 mm gun.

In fact the Oerlikon KCB 30 mm cannon which is of Swiss make is only the second option offered to the SLN by the Israelis. As the first option even the Israelis have offered the SLN the Bushmaster Mk 44. What is intriguing however is that the Israeli offer for the Bushmaster Mk 44 is US $ 7 million  more than the price offered by the manufacturers of the Bushmaster gun in the USA. The Oerlikon cannon is US $ 4 million more than the Bushmaster cannon offered by ATK in Arizona, who are the exclusive manufacturers of the Bushmaster naval gun.

Having pointed out these pertinent aspects to the sub committee on budgets and tenders last week, Choksy decided that this purchase should be re-evaluated. 

What is ludicrous is that minutes of the meeting of the sub committee on budgets and tenders held on August 25, state that the committee has decided to appoint Charitha Ratwatte, Austin Fernando and Daya Sandagiri to re-evaluate the Israeli offer.

Daya Sandagiri and Austin Fernando have already made it clear that despite all the evidence against the Oerlikon KCB cannon, they both believe this is the best buy for the SLN. Fernando has been humble enough to admit that his view on the matter is influenced by the Navy Commander and other high ranking naval officers who insist the Oerlikon offer is the best. "I am only a layman and dependent on the judgement of the navy in this case," he said.

Charitha Ratwatte too can certainly make no claim to being a weapons expert, so effectively both Ratwatte and Fernando will have to rely on the Navy Commander for a final re-evaluation. Sandagiri has already made his position crystal clear with regard to his decision to proceed with making this purchase from Israel.  Thus appointing Sandagiri to the re-evaluation committee makes it an exercise in futility.

The Navy Chief has even resorted to uttering falsehoods in order to justify his decision and that of other naval officers handpicked by him to initially evaluate the Israeli offer to purchase the Oerlikon cannon.

When we asked Sandagiri if the existing 30 mm guns on the navy's fast gun boats consist of the Oerlikon cannon, he categorically denied this fact saying the cannon is British made and identified as the GCM A03-2 gun.

We can prove that Sandagiri is lying. According to a description of the weapon by the Royal Ordnance Company itself, clearly identifies the cannon as being the Oerlikon KCB 30 mm gun. The navy purchased 10 of these guns from Royal Ordnance in the UK in November 1996.

Sandagiri went a step further in attempting to deceive. He said that the present Israeli offer for 15 guns of Oerlikon make includes the mount. He said however that the offer from the American based ATK is only for the gun, which is why it is three times cheaper. Sandagiri said that the upgrading kit included in the Israeli offer is for the mount as well.

Here too we have proof that the upgrading kit is specifically software and tools to integrate the gun onto the existing mounts on the SLN boats. The same offer has been made by ATK too, which includes an upgrading kit for integration purposes. Neither the Israelis nor the Americans have placed an offer on the table that includes the mounts.

The mounts on the navy's Fast Gun Boats (FGBs) are British manufactured by Royal Ordnance. The 30 mm guns however are of Oerlikon make. This we reiterate is specified very clearly in the technical manual issued by Royal Ordnance. The mounts on the navy's Fast Attack Crafts (FACs) are manufactured by the Israel owned Rafael company. We will detail how Sandagiri has deliberately attempted to mislead facts in this case by stating that the Bushmaster Mk 44 30 mm gun cannot be integrated onto the Rafael mounts on the FACs for which the navy is to purchase 15 more 30 mm guns.   

Sandagiri told this newspaper previously that the only reason he could not entertain the ATK offer is because it has not been made via the American government. ATK unlike Rafael is not state owned. The Navy Chief also said then that he needed to know if the Bushmaster Mk 44 gun could be integrated onto the existing mounts on the naval boats, which he said are of Israeli make for which Rafael holds a patent right.

What Sandagiri is in a position to do if he so chooses, is to procure 15 Bushmaster guns from the American company and provide them as government equipment to Rafael. Or, have a discussion with ATK and decide who would perform which tasks and if it could be done without Rafael. This is not unusual and has been done before in the SLN.

This in fact is a minor issue in comparison to the larger picture whereby Sandagiri is determined to buy 15 guns from Rafael which have not only been condemned by high ranking officers in the navy who serve at the front as being unimpressive but faulty as well. So much so, the guns have constantly been under repair since they were purchased in 1996. The Sunday Leader is in possession of documentary evidence detailing how often these 30 mm guns of Oerlikon make are constantly under repair.

As far back as August 1997, Rear Admiral A. H. M. Razeek who was then commander, eastern naval area, in a report to the commander stated that the then newly installed Oerlikon KCB 30 mm cannons purchased from Royal Ordnance "is not at all impressive as far as the range is concerned."

Razeek also stated that the gun minus the fire control system has a range of only 2000 meters which is equivalent to one mile. The navy this time was seeking to extend this range by another 1000 meters but in attempting to purchase the Oerlikon gun the SLN has failed to achieve this target as the Oerlikon 30 mm cannon minus the fire control system does not have a range of more than 2000 meters.

Apart from this is the fact that the 15 30 mm Oerlikon cannons to be bought from Rafael cost US $ 4.8 million or the equivalent of Rs. 470.4 million more than that offered by the American company for a far superior product.

The Israeli's as a first option have offered the navy the Bushmaster Mk 44 30 mm cannon at a price of US $ 645,000 per unit including the upgrading kit. 

Contrast in price

In a massive contrast in price, the manufacturers of the Bushmaster cannon, ATK in Arizona have offered the gun to the Sri Lankan government at a price of US $ 193,800 per cannon including the upgrading kit.

The total price offered by the Israeli's for 15 units of the Bushmaster gun is Rs. 1.2 billion (USD 12.3 million). The total price offered by ATK for 15 numbers of the same weapon is US $ 2.9 million. ATK is also charging another US $ 520,085 for training, special tools and manuals. Even with this amount added it works out to a total of an estimated Rs. 333.2 million (US $ 3.4 million.) 

The Israeli's are charging an additional US $ 33,000 for installation and integration as well as US $ 2.2 million for an Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) package. Even if this amount of US $ 33,000 as well as US $ 2.2 million were also added onto the ATK offer, it still would work out to only US $ 5.6 million. This means the difference in price is US $ 6.3 million.  In effect, the difference for the government is Rs. 617 million if compared with the Bushmaster cannon offered by the Israelis.

However what the navy is trying to purchase is 15 Oerlikon KCB 30 mm cannons, which is of Swiss make. Royal Ordnance is the manufacturer of the complete gun system, which includes the mount but the guns are bought from KCB Oerlikon. It is a combined weapons system between the Swiss and the British.

The Israelis have offered this gun for US $ 670,000 including the upgrading kit. The total package for all 15 guns works out to US $ 10,845,000 or the equivalent of over Rs. 1 billion.

Compared with the ATK offer for the more advanced Bushmaster Mk 44 30mm gun, the price difference is still cheaper by US $ 4.8 million or Rs. 470.4 million.  

What is extremely puzzling is why Sandagiri is pushing this offer when he chaired a special committee appointed by the former navy commander H. Tissera to evaluate the performance of the Oerlikon KCB 30 mm gun, which had already been purchased for the navy? 

Observations

In a report to the then navy commander dated April 3, 1999, Sandagiri together with eight other high ranking naval officers chaired a committee which made adverse observations  to the navy regarding this weapon.      

Interestingly, this committee headed by Sandagiri has pointed out that "this gun requires to change its barrel after every 5000 rounds. The cost of a barrel is Sterling Pounds 20,185.35."  The cost of 5000 rounds is Sterling Pounds 50,358.32. 

The cost of a round of ammunition used in this gun according to Sandagiri is approximately Rs. 8000. The report adds that the firing range of this gun is only 2000 meters but could be increased upto 3000 meters if purchased together with Fire Control Systems  (FCS).

It must be said here that the navy's proposed purchase for this same weapon this time around too does not include a fire control system.

In addition, Sandagiri and eight other naval officers have noted that "it is also understood that the version of this particular gun is 16 years old and the Royal Navy is in the process of phasing it out. This may result in SLN not having required spares in time to come."

This means then that this gun is now 20 years old. And it is this same cannon that Sandagiri is fighting tooth and nail to purchase at a cost that is US $ 4.8 million more than the gun offered by ATK in Arizona who manufacture the more advanced and quality assured Bushmaster cannon.

Sandagiri has consistently maintained even to this newspaper when questioned that he is unable to accommodate the ATK offer since "it has not been made by the government of the United States of America - but is an unsolicited bid."

The offer from the Israeli's has been made by Rafael Naval Systems Directorate in Israel, which is state owned. When we asked Defence Secretary Austin Fernando if the offer from Rafael was made via the Israeli government he said, "Rafael is owned by the government of Israel - so I think that the offer had the sanction of the Israeli government."

Pressed further and asked to recall if he or the Defence Minister Tilak Marapone had any document from the government of Israel or its Defence Ministry supporting the Rafael offer, Fernando had to admit that he could not remember. "I cannot remember," he said.

Fernando also said that he did not know if Tilak Marapone on a recent visit to Israel together with Navy Commander Daya Sandagiri had met with a single Israeli defence official with regard to the purchase of these guns. "I don't know - I never saw his itinerary.." Fernando said.

Marapone was not available for comment and Sandagiri said he could not comment if Marapone had indeed met with any Israeli government minister regarding this purchase during his visit to the country last month. 

"Too heavy to mount"

Indeed, Defence Minister Tilak Marapone's conduct on this occasion raises serious questions. Either he does not understand the complexity surrounding the purchase of these weapons or simply does not care for the ramifications involved if Sri Lanka does indeed proceed with purchasing 15 cannons of Oerlikon KCB make through Rafael has in Israel.

It must be stated at this point that the US Navy have already indicated to the SLN that they would be able to purchase for Sri Lanka on the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme negotiated between the Sri Lankan and US government the MK 46 Bushmaster cannon which is used by the US Navy. 

This cannon according to Sandagiri would be too heavy to be mounted on the existing systems of the navy's Fast Attack Crafts. The fact remains however that the Mk 44 cannon which is available at ATK could be purchased on a commercial basis and not on the FMS scheme. 

The FMS scheme allows for Sri Lanka to purchase only what is required by the US military as the order would be included in that of one being made for the US armed forces as well.

This is why ATK being the manufacturers of the Bushmaster cannon have made an unsolicited commercial offer to Sri Lanka for the Bushmaster MK 44 cannon which ATK maintains it can provide immediately. 

In a letter to Tilak Marapone on July 9, 2003, Director, Programs and Operations at ATK, David Measures has said that after reviewing the current inventory situation of the Bushmaster MK 44, "it has been determined that at least 15 cannons are available for immediate delivery to Sri Lanka."

At the cabinet sub committee meeting on budgets and tenders, Austin Fernando had argued the point that the ATK offer cannot be considered because it is in violation of government tender procedure.

Rear Admiral D. K. Dassanayake however disagreed. Quoting from the official guidelines on government tender procedure, he pointed out that Section 179 states that it is lawful when owing to urgent and exceptional circumstances, it becomes necessary to deviate from prescribed tender procedure and that the authorities may within the limits prescribed, authorise specific deviations for works.

The head of the department concerned is allowed to make this deviation and in this case it would be the navy commander. Dassanayake further asserted that Section 183 of the same document allows for reasons of national security, to authorise procurement from a sole source if that offer is more favourable and better than those brought in by any public advertisement.

Once more, this only reiterates the position that Sandagiri could well have accommodated and considered the offer made by ATK.

It having been proved at the cabinet sub committee meeting last Monday that Sandagiri is indeed in a position to entertain an unsolicited bid from a sole supplier, the Navy Chief is now trying to make out that the Israeli offer includes the mount while the proposal from ATK does not.

This is a total misconception on the part of Sandagiri as the offer made by the Israeli's is only for the gun and software and does not include a complete package with the mount.

The navy's  FGBs have the British made mounts and the system is called the GCM Royal Ordnance AO3-2 gun system where the main component of the gun is identified as the KCB Oerlikon cannon.

The Oerlikon KCB 30 mm cannon run in slides in each cradle. The cannon is fixed by two anchor pins to the recoil unit yoke in the rear of the cradle.

The multi million dollar question here is why the Navy Commander has gone to the extent of uttering falsehoods that could quite easily be verified for authenticity?

Sandagiri has complained bitterly that the re-evaluation of the Israeli offer will only delay the entire process of purchasing the guns which he says are vitally important for his men to use on the navy's  FACs.

Condemned products

The fact of the matter is that Sandagiri is trying to purchase guns that have been condemned by his own men to be faulty and unimpressive in its firing capability and thus jeopardise the lives of his officers as well as national security.

Rajitha Senaratne at last Monday's meeting had pointed out this salient fact to Austin Fernando reiterating that he and Fernando would come and go as government's change, but that it is upto them to change the system of corruption and act with the best interest of the country at heart and not be tainted by others' conduct.

Needless to say, military purchases such as this over the last decade have been made at great cost to this country and yes, even to Sandagiri's own men who have been at the frontline of battle while continuing to protect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

* * * *

More Stories