Fokker alive and kicking; components for Yemen

Photo Moroccan F-16 crashed while on a mission with Saudi Arabia-led forces in Yemen. Bron

Late august 2018 military helicopter company NHIndustries concluded a deal with Qatar to sell 28 helicopters. The France-based company is jointly owned by Airbus, Leonardo Helicopters and Fokker Aerostructures. Fokker produces the landing gear for the NH-90 helicopters. The deal with Qatar is only a tip of the iceberg of the involvement of the Fokker company in the Middle East. Fokker delivers parts for all kinds of aircraft used in the war on Yemen. Fokker is an almost forgotten part of the Dutch industry; that many of its planes are still flying is not commonly known

The history of Fokker dates back to the very beginning of aviation. And also military aviation. The company already delivered war planes to Germany during World War I. A spectaclair case was the false flag operation by India to have a pretext ending all flights from East to West Pakistan as was stated in the Pakistan Daily Times:

"On Jan 30, 1971 we fell for an India-staged hijacking of an Indian Airlines Fokker-27 named “Ganga” to Lahore, supposedly carried out by Kashmiri separatists, one of them was actually a RAW [Indian intelligence agency] operative. Taken out of service by Indian Airlines a year before the “false flag operation”, the Fokker was brought back into operation solely for this flight, was it a coincidence that all the passengers were RAW, BSP, police, etc personnel and their families. Its blowing up at the Lahore Airport tarmac, was then used a pretext to stop all over flights between East and West Pakistan just when our developing internal political crisis badly needed physical (and psychological) communications for a direct route to remain and signify unity."

But more recently, after its bankruptcy in 2005 the production of complete planes ended but Fokker did not disappear. Branches continued producing components for aircraft and missiles of Airbus, Leonardo, Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

For an outsider it is difficult to tell which components are part of which weapon system. Fokker has made agreements on production on many systems and those are sold to a number of countries (see table 3) most probably while including Dutch components.

Fokker is also still overhauling the planes that it has build in its glorious past. Planes have long lives and many Fokker planes are still part of military inventories, used for military tasks such as maritime patrol, cargo and personnel transport. They fly on all continents: from Angola to Venezuela, from tiny Togo to the United States. Active types involved are the F-27, F-28, F-50 (and the slightly longer F-60), F-70 and F-100 (see table 1).

Table 1: Military Fokker aircraft still active
F-27	F-28 (incl. F-70 and 100) Air worthyness (update 4 Oct. 19)	F-50
Iranian Bron:	Argentine	Dutch
Algeria - AF	Argentine - AF (decommisioned)	Peru - N
Angola - AF	Colombia - AF	Taiwan - AF
Argentine - AF	Côte d'Ivoire - VIP Transport	Singapore - AF
Bolivia A, - AF	Ghana - AF	Tanzania - AF
Finland - AF	Indonesia - AF	Thailand - P
Indonesia - AF	Kenya - AF
Iran - A, AF, N	Malaysia - AF
Myanmar - AF	Myanmar - AF
Pakistan - AF, N	Peru - A, N
Philippines - AF, N	Philippines - AF
Peru - N, CG	Tanzania - AF
Senegal - AF	Togo - AF
Sudan - AF	Venezuela - NG
Thailand - N
United States - APT (C-31A Troopship)
Primarily based on The Military Balance 2018 and secondarily on Fokker wiki's. When not listed in MB18 a 3rd source is given. When no such source for a wiki entry is found, that entry is removed. A = Army, AF = Air Force, APT = Army Parachute Team, CG=Coast Guard, N = Navy, NG = National Guard, P = Police

GKN results period ended 30 June 2015.

Part of GKN

Since October 2015, Fokker is part of UK company GKN. For € 706 million GKN Aerospace acquired Stork Topco B.V. which owns Fokker Technologies Group B.V. GKN employs a workforce of 17,000 at 51 locations in 14 different countries. Turnover in 2017: € 4 billion. Fokker had 4,900 (3,500 in the Netherlands) employees in 8 other countries (Romania, Turkey, Canada, Mexico, USA, China, India and Singapore, see table 2) and owns 44 per cent of Belgian SABCA shares.

GKN Aeospace Fokker is composed of four divisions falling under Fokker Technologies: aerostructures, electrical wiring systems, landing gear and services. That last division plays a major role in the maintenance and repair of Fokker aircraft, but also of recent aircraft types such as the F-35. GKN even considers to make this part more important. Fokker Technologies is a major contributer to the overall rotary wing (helicopter) sector of GKN.

Table 2: Subsidiaries and other undertakings
Papendrecht, Nl (Hoogeveen)	Fokker Aerospace B.V.
	Fokker Aerostructures B.V.
	Fokker (CDR) B.V.
	Fokker Engineers & Contractors B.V.
	Fokker Procurement Combination B.V.
	Fokker Technologies Group B.V.
	Fokker Technologies Holding B.V.
	Fokker Technology B.V.
	Hoofdkantoor Slobbengors Beheer B.V.
Hoogerheide, Nl	Fokker Aircraft Services B.V.
	Fokker Techniek B.V.
Helmond, Nl	Fokker Landing Gear B.V.
Hoofddorp, Nl	Fokker Services B.V.
Canada	Fokker Elmo Canada Inc.
China	Fokker Elmo (Langfang) Electrical Systems Co.
India	Fokker Elmo SASMOS Interconnection Systems Ltd.
Romania	Fokker Engineering Romania S.R.L.
Singapore	Fokker Services Asia Pte Ltd.
Turkey	Fokker Elmo Havacilik Sanayi Ve Ticaret Ltd.
USA	Fokker Aerostructures Inc.
	Fokker Elmo Inc,
Source annual reports 2016 and 2017.

Wide range of aircraft

All different Fokker divisions produce components for a wide range of aircraft, such as fighters, helicopters and transport planes and even for PAC3 missiles (part of layered missile defence). For transport planes including the A400M, the C-130 Hercules (globally the most common military transport aircraft), and the Leonardo C-27J battlefield airlifter. Those planes are used for the deployment of troops and equipment all over the globe. But components are also produced for the Boeing 737 AEW&C, an airborne early warning and control aircraft designed for the Australian air force to oversee the battlefield. This aircraft is also sold to Turkey and South Korea, and offered to Italy and the UAE. The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is in use in several countries for patrolling sea lines of communication, illegal activities and migrant movements and - military the most important - searching for submarines. The P-8 is in 2017 offered to Saudi Arabia.

Helicopters

Fokker is widely involved in helicopter programs. This includes the previously mentioned NH-90 program, a helicopter in two different versions for tactical transport (of goods and/or troops) and for use on naval surface vessels of frigate size and bigger. The Dutch company also produces major sub-assemblies for the back of the double rotor Chinook helicopters. For the Apache attack helicopter (AH-64) it is producing the forward avionic bays (FAB's), the vertical stabilizer and landing gear. GKN stated that: “This successful collaboration has continued with the operation involved in the latest Apache version: the AH-64D Block III.”

The Apache is not only found in inventories of the US forces and the armed forces of a number of Asian and European allies, but also in the Egyptian, Israeli, Kuwaiti, Qatar, UAE and Saudi (also Army and National Guard) Air Forces. The attack helicopters are operated in the military actions in Yemen under the cynical designation Restore Hope. The Saudi's employ at least two and the Emirates seven of them in fighting operations, according to the Military Balance (2018 edition).

Fighter aircraft

Resulting from offset agreements made during the last forty years Fokker is also involved in the production of F-16 parts. These planes are also used in the war on Yemen: Bahrain employs six, Egypt six, Jordan six, Morocco six, and the UAE each 12.

The latest addition to the Western fighter aircraft fleet, the F-35 Lightning (including its engine), is fitted with Fokker parts and more of this kind of complicity can be expected in conflicts not yet even known.

Arms (component) control

The Dutch government has the opinion that as long as exports of components take place in EU/NATO+ countries, the arms export controls will be done in the country of final assembling. Is this controllable? Yes it is if the the companies assembling the aeronautic weapon systems want to cooperate and Dutch government is willing to make this a condition. One of the demands in the production process among the involved businesses is that: “Full traceability of the Supply Chain shall be guaranteed either by AS/EN9120 certification or be proven by the paperwork with the goods.” This traceability could become the foundation for a more stringent arms export policy. It should. Why is the Dutch government strict on direct exports to Riyadh, but can Dutch components end up in weapon systems used by the Saudi's and their allies in a bloody war?

Table 3: Products with Fokker involvement and client states (minus EU/NATO+ countries)
	Helicopters		Transport Aircraft		Maritime Patrol	Early warning	Fighter Aircraft		Missiles
Type	NH-Industries NH90	Boeing Apache	Airbus A400M	Leonardo C-27J	Boeing P-8 Poseidon	Boeing 737 AEW&C	Lockheed F-16	Lockheed F-35	Raytheon PAC3
Chad
Chile
Egypt
India
Iraq
Israel
Indonesia
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Malaysia
Mexico
Morocco
Oman
Pakistan
Peru
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Turkmenistan
UAE
Venezuela
Zambia
Fokker worked on the C-130 Hercules also. This is plane sold to over seventy countries and production started in 1950. The other aircraft are of a more recent date and/or the Netherlands is participating from the start in its production, because of offset agreements. Based on Military Balance 2018 and wikipedia. Light purple on order/potential sale and purple sold.

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Reaper drones, the Dutch air force and Fokker

(Nederlandse versie)

The Dutch air force is in the process of acquiring four General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones with ground stations at a cost of € 187 million. Anticipated deployment includes gathering intelligence during interventions/humanitarian operations and the support of civilian authorities.

Drone wars cartoon slideshow: https://dronewars.net/no-laughing-matter/

Dutch GKN Fokker is rewarded for the Dutch acquisition with participation in the production of the Reapers. Which makes the components covertly part of all Reaper drones exports. Considering the fast growing popularity of the drone and the erosion of the US arms export policy this might evolve into a deadly but profitable business.

Killing machine

Armed drones have been around for a long time already, but the use accelerated in the last twenty years. The first modern drone attacks took place in the beginning of this century, for example the well documented 2002 drone attack in Yemen, a country the US wasn't even at war with. This strike was called “execution without trial,” and was the start of the kill don't capture doctrine, according to philosopher Mary Calhoun (in: We kill because we can; London: Zed books, 2016). Medea Benjamin of Code Pink underlined this critical position in Drone Warfare (London, New York: Verso, 2013) by citing a former counterinsurgency adviser to top general Petreus. This Lt Colonel John Nagel described the kill don't capture campaign as “an almost industrial-scale counterterrorism killing machine.”

The Reaper

The Reaper is developed by General Atomics – Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and one of the larger types of drones. It can be armed with four Hellfire-missiles and with guided bombs such as the GBU-12 Paveway II en GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). Camera's are fitted, able to read e.g. signs of cars. The drone has become famous and notorious by the elimination of terrorists and the killing of civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.

The MQ-9 Reaper originated from the Predator drone, but has another tail and is bigger. It is called Reaper for a reason: although it is fitted with the same surveillance equipment as the Predator it is much more of a hunter-killer design. Some have called it the first fielded Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV),” or expressed differently: “the primary offensive strike drone for the United States military.”

Unarmed at the battle field

Reaper drones are used by a number of countries (see table), armed or unarmed. The drones are helpful tools during natural disasters, like floods, forest fires and hurricanes. Predator and Reaper drone are also used by the US to control its border with Canada and Mexico to control the movements of people (migrants, refugees).

The Netherlands version is “not armed, yet,” as a Dutch newspaper wrote, understanding the self propelling dynamcis of arms acquistions driven by the invisible hand of the Ministry of Defence, and helped by the right to center parties VVD and CDA, who are in favour of fitting missiles to the Reapers. They will be used for Intelligence gathering, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (getting information about enemy forces or positions) together abbreviated as ISR. ISR is a central part of modern warfare and drones like the Reaper fit into this development. In his book Kill Chain (London, New York: Verso, 2015) Andrew Cockburn describes in detail how the position of a SIM-card was picked up by a drone and the owner killed. Unfortunately this was not the terrorist the US Special Forces thought it was, but a campaigner for a candidate in the Afghan parliamentary elections, who was killed because he had the wrong GSM in his hands.

Fokker and drones

Dutch Fokker has a long history connected to the idea of drones. Today's remotely piloted aircraft like Predator and Reaper exist “because of research and development done in the late 1930s.” The pioneers used in 1937 a Fokker C-14B. Nowadays two Fokker divisions (part of Fokker/GKN) are involved in producing Reaper parts. Fokker in Hoogeveen is participating since 2016 in production and sustainment of Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper landing gear subsystems. Fokker Helmond produces the landing gear systems for the Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper drones. Fokker delivered its first landing gear in spring 2017 and expects to produce 30-50 landing gear systems a year. “GKN Aerospace’s Fokker business unit and Dutch industry will play a critical role in the expanding Predator-series market,” General Atomics warns us on future drones exports.

Photo: https://static.thisdayinaviation.com/.../2018/03/090716-F-1234K-007.jpg

Dutch production and technology

Fokker itself promotes it position by underlining that it also involves sub suppliers (KNWE and VDL GL Precision). In total about 10 Dutch SME’s are involved in the supply chain. A General Atomics press release cites the CEO of the Dutch Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR), Michel Peters “It’s a great opportunity for NLR to work together with GA-ASI on extending the existing European regulations on RPA usage in civilian airspace.”

Dutch Royal Ten Cate was mentioned earlier (2013)as producer of airframe parts for the Reaper drone. The company reported: “At the beginning of 2012, TenCate Advanced Composites in the United States of America received a Supplier Excellence Award from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. (...) TenCate has supplied composite prepregs for this company’s unmanned vehicle system programmes.” But since that report it is silent around the relationship between the Dutch company and General Atomics.

One of the othe companies working with GA-ASI on the MQ-9B is European missile producer MBDA ( having a financial holding in the Netherlands). But GKN Fokker is the main beneficiary of the Dutch acquisition.

Compensation

Crucial for Fokker's position is its knowledge of composite-based matériel, making the aircraft light, expanding the endurance and flight range. But the cooperation is also the result of an anticipated Dutch industrial and regional benefit obligation associated with the potential procurement of the drones by the Dutch armed forces. A quid pro quo mechanism with similarities to a mechanisms formerly known as offsets and compensation and nowadays often called industrial participation. General Atomics and Fokker have been working together for several years to offer Predator B to the Dutch Armed Forces.” The position for Fokker as contributor to the Reaper program has a strong link with Dutch MoD acquisition policy.

Free for all?

The landing gear is made by Fokker for armed and unarmed Reapers; for Reapers used by the French in Mali and for those used by the US in Afghanistan. The drones will be assembled in the US and the US will make the final decision on re-export. This collaboration by Fokker in the program opens a box of questions. Is India a problem as destination, because of its conflict with Pakistan? Is the United Arab Emirates, one of the most active in the Yemen war, acceptable for the Dutch government as an export destination? Or is The Hague simply hiding behind the formal argument: 'we will not control our allies and the US has its own arms export policy,' closing the box of questions by one sweep? This hide out is a convenient position for the Netherlands, because 72 per cent of all Dutch military exports concern components for larger weapon systems.The other way around considerations are on a much lower level, European allies must follow the US export policy or face the juridical and financial consequences.

The US deploys its Reaper drones to conflicts like Ukraine and Yemen and in the War on Terrorism. Those US drone deployments are notorious and destabilise countries and regions. Does the Netherlands agree with this use of armed drones? Or is the Dutch government hoping nobody will ever ask the question if Dutch Fokker products are meant for the killing machines.

Country	type	No. Armed y/n/some	Tasks (not extensively)
Australia		- y	Project AIR 7003 by Team Reaper Australia will provide an armed, Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) drone that will be fully-interoperable with Australia's allies.
Belgium	MQ-9B Sky Guardian	n	Negotiations to purchase a pair of medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicles. The government has approved the start of negotiations with the USA over the requirement. Belgium describes them as "reconnaissance" assets, suggesting that they will not carry weapons.
France	MQ-9 Reaper	6 n (y)	To support deployed troops, regional security, and interoperability with the US. Provides battlefield situational awareness, anticipates enemy intent, augments combat search and rescue, and provides ground troop support. y: MilBal2018, p. 73: Summer 2017 saw the French defence ministry announce that its Reapers would be armed in the short term – potentially with Hellfire or Brimstone missiles.
India	Guardian	- some	The military wants them for surveillance and to hunt down targets at land and sea.
Italian	9 MQ-9A Reaper 5 RQ-1B Predator	9 n 5 n	They will probably be involved in High Value Target surveillance and Reconnaissance (maybe SOF support). MilBal2018, p. 73: In 2015 the US authorised Italy to arm its MQ-9 Reapers with Hellfire missiles, although it remains unclear whether this has been carried out.
Morocco	Predator-A	4	Royal Moroccan Air Force
NL	MQ-9 Reaper	4 n	To be deployed to collect intelligence in support of military and civilian authorities (see text).
Spain	MQ-9 Reaper	4 n	Missions will include terrestrial and maritime identification, surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition, combat support missions, electronic warfare, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear detection, improvised explosive devices recognition and rescue and air rescue support operations.
UAE	Predator XP/RQ-1E	- n	Predator XP (known in the UAE as RQ-1E) includes an automatic takeoff and landing capability, redundant flight control surfaces, enhanced avionics, triple-redundant flight control computers, high-definition Electro-optical Infrared (EO/IR) camera sensor, and a wide-area search radar system for both overland and maritime surveillance. The aircraft is also equipped with both Line-of-Sight (LOS) and Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLOS) data link systems for over-the-horizon operations. Gulf News states: GA-ASI is not authorised to sell the weaponized MQ-9 model to a number of countries, including the UAE.
UK	Protector RG.1 (MQ-9B)	20 y	Offering twice the endurance of the 10 Reapers it replaces the new type is expected to carry MBDA Brimstone air-to-surface missiles and Raytheon Paveway IV precision-guided bombs.
US	Predators: US Air Combat Command (ACC); Air Education and Training Command; Air National Guard Reapers: Air Combat Command (ACC); Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC); and Air National Guard and for the US Department of Homeland Security, and NAS
Note: On the wiki page on the Predator also Turkey is mentioned. But the deal has never materialised. (see also Hürriyet)

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