14 December marks the 18-month anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy which killed 72 people. The public inquiry is ongoing. But one company that manufactured the cladding – widely thought to have contributed to the rapid spread of the fire – also has links to arms manufacturers BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin.
Arconic
On 12 December, Arconic is due to give its closing statement to the Grenfell inquiry. It provided “almost 7,000 sq metres” of the cladding used in the Grenfell refurbishment. As the Guardian reported, Arconic claimed these panels were “at most, a contributing factor” in the spread of the fire. But this contradicts evidence from fire safety experts:
Dr Barbara Lane concluded Arconic’s product Reynobond 55PE “contributed to the most rapid of the observed external fire spread” and said the cladding system, including the insulation, was “substantially to blame for the tragedy”. Prof Luke Bisby said the panels were “the primary cause of upward vertical fire spread, downward vertical fire spread, and lateral fire spread.
Yet this isn’t the company’s only link to death and destruction.
Weapons of mass destruction
Arconic’s website proudly lists manufacture for parts in Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II fighter jet and a number of other links to the defence industry. Its director Elmer Doty was formerly executive vice president of BAE Systems.
Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) notes that Lockheed Martin is the largest arms manufacturer in the world. Israel is the first country to use the F-35 in combat, CAAT reported:
Air force chiefs presented image of the jets over Beirut, Lebanon, saying that they had “already attacked twice on two different fronts.” Israel has received nine of the 50 F-35s it has so far ordered, but could buy up to 75.
BAE Systems is the world’s fourth-largest arms manufacturer, As CAAT explains, BAE builds and sells “fighter aircraft, warships, tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, missiles and small arms ammunition”: used in deadly conflicts around the world:
BAE’s warplanes are playing a central role in Saudi Arabia’s attacks in Yemen. Its armoured vehicles were used by Saudi Arabia in Bahrain to support the repression of democracy protests in 2011.
On 9 August, a Saudi-led coalition bomb, supplied by Lockheed Martin, hit a school bus in Yemen, killing 40 children and 11 adults. This was one tragedy in a brutal war that is, according to the UN, the ‘worst humanitarian crisis’ in the world.
“Sadistic psychopaths”
As rapper and activist Lowkey pointed out, we can’t ignore these links:
The grotesque, sadistic pyschopaths at @LockheedMartin even made a twitter for killing machine @thef35
— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) December 9, 2018
In 2018, US-based Arconic reported revenue of $3.6bn. Elliott Management Corp, “the activist hedge fund” and largest shareholder behind Arconic, is currently trying to buy out the company. Reportedly this is to limit a drop in share price linked to potential liability ahead of the Grenfell inquiry findings. But until our government ends all arms sales and companies like this cease to trade, we need to know just how they profit. Because there’s no question: Arconic’s profit is drenched blood.
Featured images via ChiralJon/Flickr and Wikimedia
