ON A CRISP SATURDAY in November 2014, a black Mercedes SUV pulled onto the tarmac of an Austrian specialty aviation company 30 miles south of Vienna. Employees of the firm, Airborne Technologies, which specialized in designing and equipping small aircraft with wireless surveillance platforms, had been ordered to work that weekend because one of the company’s investors was scheduled to inspect their latest project.
For four months, Airborne’s team had worked nearly nonstop to modify an American-made Thrush 510G crop duster to the exact specifications of an unnamed client. Everything about the project was cloaked in secrecy. The company’s executives would refer to the client only as “Echo Papa,” and instructed employees to use code words to discuss certain modifications made to the plane. Now the employees would learn that Echo Papa also owned more than a quarter of their company.
A fit, handsome man with blond hair and blue eyes got out of the Mercedes and entered Airborne’s hanger. Echo Papa, who was often just called EP, shook hands with a dozen Airborne employees and looked over the plane. “He was the sun, and all the management were planets rotating around him,” said one person present that day.
One of the Thrush 510G being modified at Airborne Technologies’ hangar in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. Prince owns at least 25 percent of the company.
One of the mechanics soon recognized Echo Papa from news photos — he was Erik Prince, founder of the private security firm Blackwater. Several of the Airborne staff whispered among themselves, astonished that they had been working for America’s best-known mercenary. The secrecy and strange modification requests of the past four months began to make sense. In addition to surveillance and laser-targeting equipment, Airborne had outfitted the plane with bulletproof cockpit windows, an armored engine block, anti-explosive mesh for the fuel tank, and specialized wiring that could control rockets and bombs. The company also installed pods for mounting two high-powered 23 mm machine guns. By this point, the engineers and mechanics were concerned that they had broken several Austrian laws but were advised that everything would be fine as long as they all kept the secret.
Erik Prince, or “Echo Papa,” the founder of Blackwater and chairman of Frontier Services Group, a publicly traded logistics and aviation company.
Photo: Mark Peckmezian
Prince congratulated everyone for making the plane “rugged” and then left. The plane was due in South Sudan, where it was urgently needed to salvage Prince’s first official contract with his new company, Frontier Services Group. Prince was eager to get the Thrush 510G in the air.
The conversion of crop dusters into light attack aircraft had long been part of Prince’s vision for defeating terrorists and insurgencies in Africa and the Middle East. In Prince’s view, these single-engine fixed-wing planes, retrofitted for war zones, would revolutionize the way small wars were fought. They would also turn a substantial profit. The Thrush in Airborne’s hangar, one of two crop dusters he intended to weaponize, was Prince’s initial step in achieving what one colleague called his “obsession” with building his own private air force.
The story of how Prince secretly plotted to transform the two aircraft for his arsenal of mercenary services is based on interviews with nearly a dozen people who have worked with Prince over the years, including current and former business partners, as well as internal documents, memos, and emails. Over a two-year period, Prince exploited front companies and cutouts, hidden corporate ownership, a meeting with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout’s weapons supplier, and at least one civil war in an effort to manufacture and ultimately sell his customized armed counterinsurgency aircraft. If he succeeded, Prince would possess two prototypes that would lay the foundation for a low-cost, high-powered air force capable of generating healthy profits while fulfilling his dream of privatized warfare.
Photo: Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images
FROM THE EARLY DAYS of the war on terror, Prince aggressively built up an aviation wing at Blackwater and supplied aircraft to the CIA and other government agencies. His “little bird” helicopters — with armed commandos hanging from their frames — became a notorious symbol of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. By 2013, after scandals, investigations, and a $42 million settlement with the Justice Department, Blackwater had been broken up, with its pieces renamed and Prince largely excluded from their operations. But his vision of creating a private air force endured.
In early 2014, Prince and Citic Group, China’s largest state-owned investment firm, founded Frontier Services Group, a publicly traded logistics and aviation company based in Hong Kong. FSG offered services such as shipping minerals, chartering flights for executives, and occasional medevacs from remote African locations. Over the past two years, Prince has given interviews and speeches describing his vision of FSG. “This is not a patriotic endeavor of ours,” Prince said of his new company. “We’re here to build a great business and make some money doing it.” China, he said, “has the appetite to take frontier risk, that expeditionary risk of going to those less-certain, less-normal markets and figuring out how to make it happen.” But while he burnished his new image as chairman of a public company, he was secretly overseeing the clandestine attack aircraft program.
Prince exploited front companies, a connection with Viktor Bout’s weapons supplier, and at least one civil war in an effort to sell his customized armed aircraft.
Prince, together with a small group of loyal deputies, hid this effort from the corporate leadership at FSG by means of non-company encrypted email, aliases, and outright deception. When Prince pitched logistics contracts to African governments on behalf of FSG, he and his team simultaneously developed plans for paramilitary contracts with those same governments.
In 2013, when FSG was being created, Prince and his team were already developing a secret blueprint for weaponized crop dusters to target terrorists and assist counterinsurgency operations in Africa. Originally drafted in late 2013, the plan was updated more than 100 times through the end of 2015. The goal was to offer affordable, high-powered air superiority to Prince’s clients that could “break the paradigm of attrition warfare in low intensity conflict.” Prince’s plan predicted strong “global marketability” for the small attack planes.
The aircraft, which the blueprint suggested could be produced in a manner that would bypass export “restraints,” would be modified to carry both precision-guided munitions as well as simpler weapons systems. But, the plan noted, “Guns, Rockets and Dumb Bombs offer the most cost effective weapon load for the target set/threat environment.” The planes would contain armored cockpits, engines, and airframes, sophisticated reconnaissance equipment similar to that used on drones, as well as night-vision capabilities. The blueprint envisioned targeting groups of insurgents, boats, vehicles, and static positions. According to the plan, the aircraft would have 12 hours of endurance to conduct operations.
The modified light attack aircraft “offers affordable ability [to] raise, train and sustain the capability for the ‘long war’ necessary in Counter Insurgency,” according to the blueprint. But this aspiration was not one that Prince would openly share with the people he was recruiting to build his new public company.
BY THE SUMMER of 2013, Prince was already putting together a team to run FSG. Among the recruits was Gregg Smith, an old friend and former Marine, who would eventually become the company’s CEO. Smith was an investment banker who had helped guide Prince through the sale of Blackwater and other entities after the U.S. government began investigating his companies. That July, as they discussed their new venture, Prince and Smith took a trip to the border of Burkina Faso and Niger in West Africa, where Prince was considering investing in a magnesium mine, according to Smith. The men landed at an airstrip controlled by French forces. Niger was a dangerous country with civil unrest and a regional al Qaeda affiliate.
As they surveyed the mine, the two discussed the advantages of adding surveillance cameras to small civilian planes to fly over mining operations or oil fields. Such planes would be useful for alerting mining companies and government forces of a possible attack by insurgents or bandits. “If you’re in a conflict zone and you have an extractive mine, or even oil and gas, you want to know what’s going on around you and that’s not always easy in those types of areas,” said Smith in an interview. “Having the ability to put an aircraft in the sky that has good ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] capabilities and monitor the radius around you, that’s good stuff.”
Prince used non-company encrypted email, aliases, and outright deception.
Such surveillance aircraft would be relatively inexpensive to operate and could provide what Smith and Prince both believed would be nice profits for their fledgling company, which they agreed should have a fleet of aircraft crisscrossing the African continent. “When we set up the company and had discussions about what FSG would and would not be, we were very clear it would not be a security company, it would not have armed people,” Smith told The Intercept. However, Prince and FSG did contemplate offering intelligence and surveillance services, as well as non-lethal logistical support, in war zones.
Prince was legendary for pushing the risk envelope, particularly when defining what legally constituted military or security services. Those contracts could require licenses and authorization from the U.S. government, and FSG’s new executives strongly doubted they could obtain them with Prince as the company’s chairman.
In February 2014, a month after Prince became chairman of FSG, he authorized the purchase of two Thrush 510G crop dusters made in Albany, Georgia. Each aircraft cost approximately $1 million. Prince told officials at FSG that the purchase was urgent because he had received a green light for a project to support the government of Mali in its battle against a regional al Qaeda affiliate. The plan was to have the planes fitted with aerial surveillance gear with a data link to a ground station, so that the aircraft could provide reconnaissance for forces operating on the ground. Prince claimed that Project Mike, as it was called internally, “was a go and as part of that we were going to be providing the ISR support and we would need those ASAP,” according to a source with direct knowledge of FSG’s inner workings.
SCAR Pod on a modified Thrush airplane.
Photo obtained by The Intercept
Prince arranged for the planes to be equipped with cameras and other surveillance gear at Airborne Technologies in Austria. Airborne, founded in 2008, is best-known for producing a proprietary device, known as a SCAR Pod, that mounts on small aircraft and enables aerial surveillance cameras to wirelessly deliver live video and other data. In promotional material, Airborne calls it “surveillance out of the box.”
What FSG’s executives did not know at the time was that Prince, through one of his veiled corporate entities, owned 25 percent of Airborne. Dorian Barak, Prince’s personal attorney who handled his investments, brokered Prince’s ownership stake in Airborne in early 2013 and represented Prince on the company’s board. In preparing the deal, Barak suggested that Airborne was open to expanding into the security business with Prince providing “strategic guidance,” contacts, and sales, according to a memo prepared for Prince.
Barak did not respond to a request for comment. Prince did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Christiaan “Serge” Durrant, a former Australian special forces pilot, ran FSG’s “specialty aviation division.”
Photo: LinkedIn
Prince and his team made plans for the aircraft to be flown from the U.S. directly to Airborne’s hangar at Wiener Neustadt East airport, south of Vienna. The official contract with Airborne was to modify the planes with surveillance equipment, including a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera similar to those used on U.S. attack and spy drones.
In May 2014, both Thrush planes were flown from the U.S. across the Atlantic Ocean to Airborne’s hangar. Once they arrived in Austria, Prince asserted effective control over the modifications and an ability to make decisions for both FSG and Airborne. The Thrush project was managed by Prince’s longtime associate Christiaan “Serge” Durrant. Prince had enlisted Durrant, a former Australian special forces pilot, to run FSG’s “specialty aviation division.” By that point, Prince was brokering a secret arrangement with executives at Airborne to turn the planes into paramilitary aircraft.
The Air Tractor crop duster was weaponized by the CIA for use in Colombia in the early 2000s.
Photo: Lowvelder
THE IDEA OF arming agricultural planes for attack did not originate with Prince. In the early 2000s, a classified program run by the CIA in Colombia employed a different U.S. crop duster, the Air Tractor. During the day, on a State Department contract, the planes would spray coca fields with herbicide. But the aircraft had been modified with ISR equipment and hardware for mounting weapons, according to a former U.S. official familiar with the program, so that the planes could be used for night bombing missions against FARC rebels and cocaine cartels.
Prince was not involved with that program, but in 2008, he did purchase a Super Tucano, a Brazilian-made light attack aircraft. Prince then leased that plane to the Pentagon as a prototype, and nearly a decade later, the U.S. began providing armed Super Tucanos to Afghanistan’s air force. He also tried pitching a light attack plane to the CIA for close air support in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to two former colleagues of Prince who were involved in the offer.
The planes were cheap, durable, and relatively discreet.
In Prince’s view, according to several sources who worked closely with him for years, his idea had been stolen by the U.S. government and his competitors, one of which has a licensed contract with the government to sell weaponized Thrush planes. But Prince did not abandon his ambitions, and the Thrush modifications he was now coordinating held great promise. The planes were cheap, durable, and relatively discreet.
Months before embarking on the secret work at the Austrian hangar, Prince and his allies at Airborne began strategizing about how to confront a potentially project-ending obstacle: Austrian defense export regulations. They knew the government would view the customized Thrush planes for what they were: militarized aircraft. Austria, which played a central role in starting two world wars, has a firm policy of neutrality and stringent regulations that would apply to the export of an Austrian-manufactured paramilitary aircraft for use in a civil war.
This was not a new challenge for Prince. Through his former Blackwater enterprise, he had acquired extensive experience defying or sidestepping U.S. defense export regulations. In an effort to avoid Austrian and European export laws, Prince looked south to Bulgaria, a nation known for its lax defense export regulations and role as a hub for international arms traffickers. “It’s very difficult to manufacture [such aircraft] in Austria and keep everything quiet,” said a former Airborne employee who worked on the plane. “It’s too risky for them. So the idea was to go to Bulgaria.”
Kristof Nagl, chief financial officer of Airborne Technologies, helped Prince set up a Bulgarian front company.
Photo: Airborne Technologies
In May 2014, Kristof Nagl, Airborne’s chief financial officer, wrote to Prince explicitly discussing the creation of a front company in Bulgaria to disguise the production of weapons-readied aircraft. Nagl cited earlier discussions with Prince and Dorian Barak and confirmed for Prince that they were moving forward with “the foundation of” a Bulgarian company named LASA Engineering Ltd. “LASA shall mean light armed surveillance aircraft,” Nagl wrote. In the memo, Nagl described a structure for LASA in which Prince “provides customers and know how.” Airborne, according to Nagl, would acquire Thrush aircraft and do the reconnaissance and surveillance modifications. LASA, however, would “be used for marketing” and “selling of light armed airborne solutions,” though its promotional materials would not directly mention the word Thrush. This omission, Nagl wrote Prince, would be done “according to your wish.”
Under the proposed arrangement, LASA would purchase the Thrush aircraft modified by Airborne directly from the company at its standard price “so all margin will stay as always with” Airborne. The transformation of the planes to light attack aircraft would be laundered in Sofia. LASA would get the necessary export licenses from the Bulgarian government so that the planes could be sold or deployed abroad.
“LASA shall mean light armed surveillance aircraft,” Nagl wrote.
The advantage of the corporate front, according to Nagl, was that they could get “indirect access to potential clients which we have to refuse now and the ‘export risk’ is covered by” the newly formed Bulgarian entity. He also proposed that the partners involved in the deal put up a percentage of the cost of creating LASA, which “will not need any significant investment.”
In response to detailed questions from The Intercept, a lawyer representing Nagl and Airborne claimed that the assertions in this article are “incorrect except for the fact that our client is offering to the market ISR modifications on various aircraft, including Thrush.” He added: “Our client obtained all required export licenses in all past transactions and will keep doing so also in the future.” The lawyer asserted that Nagl and Airborne “strictly follow all relevant and applicable export control laws and regulations.” The firm that sent the letter, Specht & Partner, has also represented Prince in Austria. After the deadline for this article, Airborne’s lawyer sent further comment, writing that the company never manufactured or sold an armed aircraft and “does not hold (directly or indirectly) shares in a company” that did so.
Prince made arrangements to visit Bulgaria in May 2014 for an Airborne meeting and a tour of the Arsenal factory in Kazanlak. Arsenal is the largest arms manufacturer in Bulgaria, and Prince was interested in viewing its line of “aerial weaponry,” including guns, rockets, bombs, and weapons management systems for aircraft, according to an internal document reviewed by The Intercept.
Shawn Matthews, an FSG contractor and former Australian special forces pilot, served as Serge Durrant’s deputy on the Thrush program.
Photo: LinkedIn
The next month, according to internal documents, Shawn Matthews, an FSG contractor and former Australian special forces pilot who served as Durrant’s deputy on the Thrush program, went to Bulgaria to meet with Peter Mirchev, a Bulgarian arms dealer who supplied Viktor Bout. (Bout is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S. for attempting to sell weapons to the FARC in Colombia.) When an FSG official learned that Matthews had met with Mirchev, he instructed Matthews and Durrant to cease all contact with him. It is not known what Matthews and Mirchev discussed, but the FSG official warned Prince’s men not to pursue arming the Thrush aircraft, saying that it would be a clear violation of U.S. law. Matthews declined to comment on the record. Durrant declined to comment.
According to the former Airborne employee and a second company whistleblower, almost all of the modifications would actually be performed in Austria. By the time the aircraft reached Bulgaria, an engineer could complete a simple installation of hardware. “The final installation of the weapons would be done in Bulgaria,” said the former employee.
Arsenal is the largest arms manufacturer in Bulgaria. Prince said he was interested in viewing its line of “aerial weaponry.”
Photo: Google Maps
FOR NEARLY TWO decades, Prince has steadily built a labyrinthine network of entities and supply-chain businesses in his quest to provide full-spectrum, “turn-key” military “solutions.” With an ownership stake in Airborne, and a front company in Bulgaria, Prince, aided by his lawyer Dorian Barak, was buying in to and expanding an entire ecosystem of paramilitary services: surveillance, weapons, engineering, and a clandestine apparatus for bypassing national and international defense regulations.
Two common threads emerge when examining many of Prince’s recent military proposals and offshore companies: He owns multiple parts of the supply chains for the deployment of private armed forces to foreign countries; and, since at least 2012, he has failed to implement them.
The plan that Prince and his team devised to weaponize the Thrush crop dusters was an engineering nightmare. Prince’s men treated Airborne’s hangar as their private Frankenstein laboratory where they directed engineers and mechanics in a perilous experiment to transform an agricultural airplane into a jerry-rigged flying tank. And Prince wanted it done fast.
At Prince’s direction, Airborne’s engineers installed bulletproof glass on modified Thrush aircraft.
Photo obtained by The Intercept
The Intercept has reviewed dozens of documents relating to the modifications of the Thrush aircraft in Austria. The former Airborne employee, who played a central role in the modifications performed on the Thrush, agreed to speak with The Intercept on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the program and fears of retaliation by Prince and Airborne.
It was clear almost as soon as the Thrush planes arrived at the hangar outside Vienna that the goal was to create military-grade attack aircraft, according to the former employee. He said that Nagl, Airborne’s chief financial officer, and Wolfgang Grumeth, the firm’s CEO, must have known that the modifications they were performing would likely be prohibited under Austrian regulations. Airborne’s employees, who had worked on sensitive projects for various governments, were led to believe they were engaged in a secret but legitimate contract.
Grumeth did not respond to a request for comment, but Airborne’s attorney stated that the company is “strictly following all Austrian as well as international applicable laws and regulations in connection with their business.”
Work began in Austria on one of the Thrush planes in July 2014. Durrant’s deputy, Shawn Matthews, embedded at the Austrian hangar to oversee the modifications, which Airborne’s employees were instructed to describe using code words such as “aeromagnetic” and “sensor” to replace discussion of weapons.
Inside a hangar in Austria, the Thrush were stripped down and rebuilt as paramilitary aircraft.
Photo obtained by The Intercept
The initial modifications involved attaching the SCAR Pod and surveillance camera. In addition to the cameras and other reconnaissance systems, according to the former employee, they installed heavy armor on the plane, replaced the Thrush’s windows with 19 mm thick ballistic glass, and lined the cockpit with Kevlar. They placed special meshing in the fuel tank so that it would not explode if struck by bullets or shrapnel, and attached a camera mount that allowed the surveillance package to be lowered once the plane was aloft so it could be used as a laser platform to assist targeting.
It was already apparent to most of the staff working on the plane that the modifications, requested by a company they knew only as Frontier, were deeply problematic. “It was clear they didn’t care about certification,” the former Airborne employee said, describing the attitude of Prince’s team. “If you make a modification to an aircraft and you do not certify it, then the operation of the aircraft is completely illegal. In Europe, it is very illegal. You are breaking a lot of laws.” He recalled one of Prince’s deputies saying that the aircraft would be used for surveillance operations in Africa and “no one there cares about certifications.” The former employee said he and other personnel working on the Thrush project were told that certification and licensing were the aircraft owner’s problem. The message was: “We do not have a risk as long as everyone keeps quiet.”
The modified Thrush aircraft had retractable surveillance cameras similar to those installed on U.S. attack drones.
Photo obtained by The Intercept
IN AUGUST 2014, a month after Nagl’s communication with Prince about establishing LASA, the company was officially open for business in Sofia — or rather, an entity named LASA filed papers with the Bulgarian government. Prince’s man in Bulgaria was Zachary Botchev, a U.S.-educated businessman whose professional biography states that he created the largest ceramic tile producer in the Balkans and started a jet airline company.
Botchev was an initial investor in Airborne and at one point controlled a third of the company’s stock. Botchev and Nagl had worked together before the founding of Airborne, according to the former employee. “The idea,” he said, was that Botchev would eventually “buy an airfield in Bulgaria and they would weaponize the planes there.”
Botchev did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
In the memo Nagl sent to Prince outlining the plan for establishing LASA, he stated that Botchev would provide local contacts in Bulgaria for export licenses and “products.” He was also tasked with selecting LASA’s managing director. It was Botchev who arranged Prince’s tour of the weapons factory in Bulgaria.
Botchev is a convicted felon with a warrant out for his arrest in the U.S., according to court files. He was found guilty of felony burglary for stealing trade files from an employer in Texas while living in Dallas in the 1990s. Botchev violated the terms of his probation and fled the U.S.
According to LASA’s corporate filings with the Bulgarian government, its official address and phone number are the same as a Bulgarian aviation company, controlled by Botchev, that claims a “close partnership” with Airborne. On LASA’s sparse website, the contact email goes to a sales address for Botchev’s company. LASA’s founding documents and other forms filed with the Bulgarian government do not mention Prince, Airborne, FSG, or the Thrush aircraft. On paper, LASA was established by a consortium of Botchev-linked businesses that shared a handful of common addresses and phone numbers.
One of LASA’s reported offices in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Photo: Google Maps
In an email, a lawyer for LASA wrote that the company was “in full compliance to all respective” laws and could not comment on “commercial arrangements.”
Botchev’s associates, who populate a murky network of Bulgarian companies, constitute 100 percent of LASA’s ownership and management. Among the addresses provided to the Bulgarian government by LASA and other Botchev-affiliated companies is a graffiti-covered building in Sofia and an office in a blighted strip mall. In its filings, LASA described its business as engineering in Bulgaria and abroad, obtaining licenses, technology brokering, domestic and foreign trade, “as well as any other commercial activity not prohibited by law.” There was no mention of weaponizing or modifying aircraft.
In September 2014, Durrant told FSG that some of the modifications and testing of the Thrush would need to be performed in Bulgaria, and that he had a deal for LASA to be the vendor. When FSG began vetting LASA, it found almost no publicly available information that would indicate LASA had ever done any business of any kind. The company did not appear to have previous contracts to modify aircraft, nor did it have a factory or staff to perform such work. According to its 2014 financial filings in Bulgaria, LASA paid less than $5,000 in salaries. One FSG officer involved with the review said LASA looked like a “paper company.” Prince and his deputies were “deliberately vague,” the officer said, in explaining the nature of the additional modifications and testing and why it was necessary to hire LASA.
In its filings with the Bulgarian government, LASA listed this graffiti-covered building in Sofia, Bulgaria, as one of its offices.
Photo: Google Maps
KRISTOF NAGL INFORMED Airborne’s Thrush team in Austria that September that they would have to work substantial overtime to finish the modifications, according to the former employee and the other whistleblower. People who worked for FSG on the project with Prince described him as running the Thrush program as though FSG were not a public company with a CEO or shareholders, but rather his private enterprise. One described Prince directing Airborne to equip the Thrush with “more toys” without alerting anyone at FSG. “We were very busy with this aircraft,” the former Airborne employee said. “There was no time for thinking, just for work because we had to make a lot of modifications on these aircraft. We were working day and night, Saturday and Sunday nights.”
Prince’s team told Airborne’s engineers they wanted the ability to mount 23 mm Russian machine guns on both sides of the plane. Those guns create a powerful recoil that Airborne’s engineers struggled to offset with complex, additional modifications. They worked around the clock and replaced the airplane’s entire electrical system. As the deadline for the Thrush’s deployment grew near, Prince’s men faced a new challenge: They were unable to purchase pylons, the hardware necessary for mounting bombs and rockets on planes.
Additional modifications to support machine guns mounted on the Thrush aircraft.
Photo obtained by The Intercept
After failed attempts to acquire them through multiple countries, they conceded defeat. The plane would have to deploy without the pylons. But they instructed Airborne to begin building customized pylons capable of carrying both Russian and NATO munitions that could be added later. According to Prince’s original Thrush blueprint, the aim was to patent a new pylon. Creating such a device was a challenge, but Airborne’s engineers would eventually succeed in building it, according to the former Airborne employee. “It was really an impressive engineering accomplishment,” he said, pointing out that Western and Russian bombs required different mounts. “You could arm those aircraft with any weapons — NATO or Warsaw pact — with the pylons we built. It was kind of incredible.”
In October 2014, Prince finally prevailed in getting FSG to sign a contract to have one of the Thrush aircraft further modified and tested by LASA in Bulgaria, with work set to commence the following spring. “The boss wants this,” one of the people involved with the deal said he was told by Serge Durrant. The boss was Prince, though the exact nature of the additional modifications remained vague.
By that point, Airborne had already attached more than 1,500 pounds of equipment to one of the Thrush planes. The engineers were told that the plane needed to be sent to Africa right away — they had been led to believe the destination was Kenya. Under pressure from Airborne’s management and Prince’s men, the former Airborne employee said they hastily organized a 30-minute test flight in Austria. It was a disaster. “After all these modifications, we had only one test flight. We had no maintenance guy who signed off on it, no paper, just jumping in and flying,” he said. “We found 30 problems and we only had two days to fix the problems because they needed to ferry it to Africa.”
“We are not just doing something risky, we are doing something completely illegal,” said a former Airborne employee.
Despite a range of safety concerns from Airborne’s technicians, a few days later, the heavily modified Thrush took off for Africa. But the pilot had to abort the journey and make a premature landing because of a damaged fuel pump. After the plane was repaired, it was flown to Malta, where a plane spotter snapped a picture of the aircraft. The Thrush, according to its tail number, had been registered in the European mini-state of San Marino. The photo the plane spotter posted on a hobbyist website showed an armored aircraft with a distinctly military appearance and clearly visible drone-style surveillance gear. Eventually the aircraft was flown back to Austria, where Airborne workers would spend three weeks repairing it.
As staff worked on the aircraft one Saturday that November, according to the former Airborne employee, Nagl announced they were expecting a special visitor on-site. Nagl did not name the visitor, the former employee said, but described him as “something like an owner of our company” who was “very important.” The visitor, arriving in the black Mercedes SUV, was the mysterious Echo Papa. “We had no idea who this guy was. When he entered the hangar, I knew his face, but I couldn’t recall his name.” One of his colleagues told him the man was Erik Prince of Blackwater.
The former employee had read about Prince years earlier in the local paper, and he immediately Googled him at a computer in the hangar. “Erik Prince is the co-owner of our company?” he recalled thinking in disgust. That was the moment he realized that the Thrush he helped to modify was not intended for what he and his colleagues considered a legitimate client, “but had been built for Erik Prince stuff.”
The former employee said that learning of Prince’s ownership stake and role in the Thrush program led him to conclude, “We are not just doing something risky, we are doing something completely illegal.” Several Airborne employees would eventually quit over concerns about the project and Prince.
“A private armored plane? It’s for me completely unthinkable to do that.”
By the time Prince toured the hangar that Saturday, the first Thrush was almost completely ready for full weaponization. “Ninety-nine percent of the horrible work had already been done,” said the former Airborne employee. The plane had a retractable camera that could be lowered below the propeller for lasers to support the targeting of bombs and rockets, as well as a wireless data link system that could enable firing munitions remotely, similar to how an armed drone functions. “If I make a military aircraft and it’s delivered to the Swiss or to Germany, I have no problems with that,” the former employee said. “But a private armored plane? It’s for me completely unthinkable to do that.”
Airborne technicians in Austria work on the surveillance gear attached to one of the Thrush airplanes.
Photo obtained by The Intercept
FOR SIX MONTHS, FSG’s executives had heard almost nothing about Project Mike, the Mali job to support a campaign against al Qaeda that Prince cited as the reason to expedite the purchase of the Thrush aircraft in early 2014. That did not surprise the executives. They knew, from his history, that Prince was always looking for the next deal and often merged his aspirational plans with concrete ones. “All these projects that Erik talked about where FSG would participate in them never happened,” said the source with direct knowledge of the company’s inner workings. “Erik was always running around talking about things that could happen, but none of them were happening.”
Then, in the summer of 2014, Prince brought a project to FSG that he believed could serve as a test run for the newly modified Thrush planes and help get the infant company on its feet. It involved South Sudan, where Prince had a long track record dating back to the Blackwater era. Prior to South Sudan’s independence in 2011, Blackwater was fined by the U.S. government for brokering defense services to southern Christian rebels without a State Department license. In 2006, ignoring explicit U.S. government instructions, Blackwater proposed a security contract with forces loyal to rebel leader Salva Kiir, a devout Christian and the future president of an independent South Sudan.
Salva Kiir, a devout Christian and the president of South Sudan, has a relationship with Erik Prince that’s spanned more than a decade.
Photo: AFP
Nearly a decade later, when Prince brokered FSG’s deal, South Sudan was ruled by Kiir, whose trademark cowboy hat was a gift from President George W. Bush. In the summer of 2014, the young, oil-rich country was several months into a civil war that had reduced oil production by a third, and Kiir needed Prince’s support. But, as was the case with many of Prince’s proposals, the services he claimed he was offering stood in stark contrast to his real plan.
FSG, according to the proposal Prince presented to the company, would provide South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mining with logistical services to help get the country’s oil fields and refineries back online. The 12-month contract, which company officials said was worth $150 million, called for FSG to operate overflight surveillance of several oil fields in South Sudan, build and supply camps next to the fields, and ferry workers and engineers by helicopter and plane.
Willingness to operate in a civil war reflected the new company’s appetite for risk; FSG recognized an opportunity for profit in parts of the African continent where competitors were afraid to venture. Prince, as chairman and founder of the company, saw himself as opening the door for business on the African “frontier.” But, according to multiple sources, the services FSG understood it would provide to South Sudan never included defense assistance. The company had not applied for, nor did it possess, the required defense export licenses from the U.S. government.
“This is not supporting the army,” Gregg Smith told Bloomberg News in December 2014. “The contract is clearly with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining to support the oil field services and to make sure the production of oil keeps flowing.”
In Austria, Airborne had already drawn up blueprints detailing how different weapons configurations would affect the Thrush’s fuel consumption and flight times, according to a copy of the plans. The blueprints offered three configuration options: mixed-attack mission, ISR mission, and bomb mission. All of them involved arming the planes with a combination of machine guns, bombs, or rockets.
One of the configurations developed by Airborne Technologies for weaponizing the Thrush aircraft.
CONTRARY TO WHAT the Airborne employees had been told, the Thrush was not intended for a Kenyan operation. The plane was ultimately flown from Austria to Juba, South Sudan. In the meantime, San Marino aviation authorities had seen the picture of the Thrush posted by the plane spotter and canceled the aircraft’s registration. They informed FSG that the plane did not appear to be the civilian aircraft for which they had issued an operating certificate. Within a few weeks, the Thrush was transported from Juba to an air hangar in another East African nation, where it remains to this day.
By the end of 2014, the South Sudanese government had stopped paying FSG. When FSG executives inquired with the oil ministry, the South Sudanese were evasive, saying they would only speak directly to Prince. “They quit paying and they wouldn’t talk to anyone and they said, ‘You need to have Erik Prince come up here,’” recalled the source with direct knowledge of the company’s operations. “They wouldn’t talk to us, wouldn’t pay us, wouldn’t do anything.”
“They said, ‘You need to have Erik Prince come up here.’”
FSG dispatched personnel to Juba to determine why the contract was falling apart. Although the government wouldn’t tell FSG what the problem was, one South Sudanese official told an FSG employee in the country that Prince had promised to provide the government with attack aircraft. The South Sudanese, according to a person with knowledge of the encounter, were initially confused, and then angry, when the militarized planes never arrived.
“[The South Sudanese] thought they were buying attack aircraft that could go after the rebels in a very serious manner,” said the source knowledgable about FSG’s internal affairs. “Erik had promised things to these guys, capabilities that we didn’t have and that we were never going to have.”
Prince had promised the South Sudan government a foreign mercenary force if it hired FSG to provide logistics and aerial surveillance. Prince did not inform FSG executives of this side deal, claiming he had offered only “monitoring the oil fields, monitoring any activity in and around them, to give the government line of sight so they could keep the oil flowing,” according to the source familiar with internal FSG matters.
“Erik promised them ISR, planes that drop bombs, attack helicopters, medical evacuation capabilities, a strike team, and training for 4,000 soldiers,” said the second person with knowledge of the plan. “The contract was for logistical support and camp building, things to support the oil fields. [Prince] verbally promised the rest.”
In the meantime, one of Prince’s lieutenants, a retired South African special forces officer, began building a proposal for Prince that could be pitched to President Kiir. Code-named Project Iron Fist, the proposal stated that Prince and his colleagues had been “invited” by South Sudan to “design a proposal” for “oil field security training, security intervention and protection support services to the government of South Sudan.”
Prince’s associates explicitly plotted a business structure for the contract that would expose no traceable connection to them, according to a document reviewed by The Intercept. They believed this would enable them to hide violations of U.S. and international defense regulations.
At the time the plan was being prepared, the United Nations Security Council was considering a set of sanctions and an arms embargo against Salva Kiir and his political rival’s armed faction.
Prince’s $300 million proposal to aid Kiir’s forces explicitly called for ground and air assaults, initially to be conducted by a 341-person foreign combat unit. Prince’s forces would conduct “deliberate attacks, raids, [and] ambushes” against “rebel objectives,” to be followed by “continuous medium to high intensity rapid intervention,” which would include “search [and] destroy missions.” Various drafts of the proposal, obtained by The Intercept, reveal meticulous planning, down to the exact number of munitions and specific hand-held radios that would be purchased. Iron Fist called for the acquisition of at least 600 bombs, 3,500 rockets, 7,500 mortars, and more than 30 million rounds of ammunition.
Among the aircraft offered in the plan were two weaponized and surveillance-equipped Thrush planes.
Iron Fist represents — more than any other known document — Erik Prince’s vision of contemporary warfare on the African continent, where the mere presence of an armed crop duster offers an opportunity to defeat a rebellion, terror group, or insurgency. While the proposal’s overt focus was on protecting South Sudan’s oil industry, two people with direct knowledge of Prince’s efforts said his actual intent was to provide a foreign force, loyal to President Kiir, to be used in a civil war fought largely on ethnic and religious lines. Iron Fist promised that the rebels would be “neutralized.” According to one of the people with knowledge of the project, Prince and his team then planned to establish and train a force to defend President Kiir’s agenda. They would also offer “spin-offs” of the original foreign mercenary unit, according to the Iron Fist proposal.
After FSG’s logistics contract fell apart and the government halted its payments to the company, Prince traveled alone to South Sudan several times in early 2015 in an effort to salvage the deal. FSG officials said that Prince never briefed the company on his meetings and they were never given a formal explanation of what they had failed to provide the South Sudanese government. “We never got paid and I made the decision to shut it down,” said Smith.
Slides from Prince’s original plan to weaponize the Thrush 510G.
IN MARCH 2015, Prince traveled to a Central Asian nation where he was pursuing a contract. He floated the idea of using the Thrush for that job, a suggestion shot down by FSG executives concerned about possible violations of U.S. defense export regulations.
By then, the company had already begun exploring the sale of the two Thrush aircraft. After the failure in South Sudan, FSG’s leadership had decided that providing surveillance aircraft would not be part of the company’s future business model. In an effort to assess the value of the planes, in April 2015, FSG began reviewing the costs of the modifications made to its aircraft. In June, Prince told FSG that Airborne was interested in purchasing the aircraft.
From the perspective of FSG’s leadership, the two Thrush aircraft — one stuck in East Africa, the other housed in Airborne’s hangar in Austria — were becoming a nuisance and they wanted to get them off the company’s books. FSG had a preliminary inspection performed on the plane in Africa in an effort to determine its value. Following that inspection, FSG executives were informed that it had been modified beyond the surveillance capabilities they had been briefed on. “We said, ‘Holy crap, maybe we don’t know what we have.’ We never laid eyes on these aircraft physically,” said the source with direct knowledge of FSG’s operations. “Nobody had, except Erik and Serge and the guys” who did the modifications, he added.
“Holy crap, maybe we don’t know what we have.”
When the inspectors reported their findings to FSG, the company understood it had a potentially serious problem with U.S. defense export regulations. The first Thrush, according to the inspection, had hard points on the wing, an armored cockpit, nose armor, ballistic glass, night-vision capabilities, and other paramilitary enhancements.
Afraid that FSG could be in violation of U.S. government regulations, the company turned to legal counsel. They were advised that, to be cautious, FSG should view the plane as a “foreign defense article” — a flying weapon that the company had no license to sell. The lawyers also concluded that even if FSG rightfully owned the modified plane, any U.S. citizen attempting to broker its sale or use by a foreign power could be violating U.S. law. Their legal opinion was that there was a “material risk” that the government would determine that Prince and other FSG staff had engaged in unauthorized brokering. The lawyers were so concerned that they advised the company to consider self-reporting the issue to the government.
FSG began an internal review. Its auditors soon discovered a series of orders and other arrangements that Prince and Durrant had pushed through without fully informing the company of their true purpose. By then, Prince was pressuring FSG to sell the Thrush planes to LASA in Bulgaria. LASA, in turn, would sell them to Prince’s buyer in Central Asia. Documents show Prince wanted to sell the two planes for $16 million. Smith said he became concerned that selling the planes to a company they could find almost no information about in a country renowned for arms trafficking could end badly. Behind the scenes, Prince attempted to pressure an FSG officer reviewing the potential deal to rubber stamp it. He was rebuffed.
Despite FSG’s stated desire to sell the aircraft, Prince, Airborne, and LASA forged ahead with their efforts to complete the weaponization of the second Thrush. Earlier in 2015, Airborne had sent two employees to Ukraine and Bulgaria to visit weapons manufacturers in an effort to assess the hardware that would be necessary to finish the job, according to the former Airborne employee. The Thrush at Airborne’s hangar in Austria, which had been modified in an almost identical manner to the one stranded in Africa, was flown to Bulgaria. “All of the modifications were done in Austria except the mounting of the pylons, which was intended to be done in Bulgaria,” the former employee said.
Behind the scenes, Prince’s men were panicking.
In September 2015, FSG’s board was notified that its plane grounded in East Africa had been modified for weapons and would likely be considered a foreign defense article in the eyes of the U.S. government. A second inspection was ordered, this time to assess the FSG aircraft in Bulgaria. When Prince’s inner circle caught wind of the imminent inspection, they engaged in a conspiracy to thwart the investigators’ efforts and to conceal the true extent of the modifications. According to two inside sources, Prince and his deputies hid the fact that they were preparing the Thrush to be weaponized, with one charging they had “deliberately concealed” the effort.
Behind the scenes, Prince’s men were panicking. Matthews, the Thrush pilot, privately expressed concerns to a colleague that the company’s CEO didn’t seem to understand what was going on, and asked whether the company understood the extent of the modifications. He advocated postponing the inspection of the plane in Bulgaria so they could surreptitiously remove the military equipment. At the time they learned of the inspection, the Thrush had already been equipped for weapons testing. The plane had been retrofitted to a state where “in one week you could have turned this aircraft into a weaponized plane,” according to the former Airborne employee. In advance of the inspection, one of Prince’s deputies described taping over a weapons control panel that had been installed in the cockpit.
When FSG’s inspectors arrived in Bulgaria in late September to examine the Thrush, according to two sources briefed on the report, they found armor on the plane’s frame and nose, laser-targeting equipment, ballistic glass, and an anti-explosive mechanism built in to the fuel tank. They also discovered modifications inside the cockpit for controlling weapons systems and hardware for arming the aircraft with bombs, rockets, and machine guns. The inspectors noted that the Bulgarian facility where the modifications had allegedly taken place did not appear to have the equipment or personnel capable of doing the work.
The discovery sparked an internal battle within FSG. Senior executives accused Prince of placing the company’s executives and officers — including a retired four-star admiral — in legal jeopardy with the U.S. government, with one senior executive alleging that Prince ran “a secret program deep within our organization.”
Smith ordered a full review of the company’s internal communications and computer network to document how and why the planes had been modified, according to three people with direct knowledge of the events. FSG officials found records, including invoices that did not match signed contracts, indicating that Prince and Durrant had secretly authorized approximately $2 million in additional modifications. “There was a concerted effort to downplay the modifications. There’s a difference between modification and weaponization,” said an FSG insider. “Did Gregg Smith know they were being modified? Of course he did. Whether they were weaponized is a different question. That was deliberately kept from senior management.”
Airborne technicians work on installing retractable surveillance gear.
Photo obtained by The Intercept
LAST OCTOBER, FRONTIER Services Group held its biannual board meeting in Hong Kong. Gregg Smith delivered the results of the internal investigation, which left little doubt that Prince, FSG’s chairman and founder, had used his position in the company to pay for and build the prototype for a private air force.
Prince already knew what he’d face at the meeting. FSG executives had forced his close lieutenant Serge Durrant into an administrative leave based on evidence Durrant had helped direct the unauthorized effort to weaponize the Thrush and then conceal it from the company’s leadership. Prince formally disclosed his partial ownership of Airborne but denied he had any connection to LASA Engineering. The board also learned from Prince for the first time that another of his companies had been paid for construction equipment used to build one of the oil field camps in South Sudan. In addition, Prince disclosed four other entities that he owned or controlled, all of which had received payments from FSG for services.
Smith and the board voted to shut down the specialty aviation division entirely and fired Durrant, Matthews, and several other Prince hires. In all, more than 20 employees were pushed out. The board formally decided to write off the $8 million expenditure of the two Thrush crop dusters and their modifications. The planes would either have the militarized components uninstalled, in an effort to sell them, or the aircraft would be sold for scrap.
The board stripped Prince of any authority over the day-to-day operations of the company.
The board also stripped Prince of any authority over the day-to-day operations of the company. “The Company reiterates its policy not to acquire or modify controlled items” under U.S. defense export regulations, stated a board resolution reviewed by The Intercept. It added that FSG would not “engage in activities that require” U.S. government licenses.
FSG’s growth projections for 2016 were strong, and the company’s executives believed they had successfully put their chairman’s trouble behind them. A final resolution reiterated that FSG’s business was in transportation and logistics — and that any business outside that description required approval from a “high risk” committee headed by FSG’s most prominent board member, retired four-star Adm. William Fallon.
But Prince persisted with unsanctioned activities, including a secret meeting with Chinese intelligence in Beijing and the establishment of a bank account at Bank of China in Macau. By January 2016, executives at FSG had grown increasingly alarmed, and Prince’s efforts in China had become part of an investigation by the U.S. government into his defense-brokering activities. Victoria Toensing, one of Prince’s lawyers, told The Intercept that her client’s Chinese bank account complied with U.S. regulations.
In February, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the events, FSG representatives traveled to Washington to meet with officials from the Department of Justice. At the meeting, they disclosed evidence pertaining to the modifications of the Thrush aircraft and the attempt to broker a sale in Central Asia, as well as Prince’s meetings in China. Among the officials with whom FSG representatives met were the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division and a senior prosecutor for export control in its counterespionage section.
Airborne Technologies brochure featuring the modified Thrush 510G.
Photo: Airborne Technologies
None of this seems to have slowed the modified Thrush program. Airborne’s prized American co-owner had indicated that there was great interest from buyers in the Middle East and Africa for the modified Thrush, according to a source with direct knowledge of Airborne’s internal meetings. The future production of 100 to 150 of the planes was mentioned.
In February, Airborne showcased the customized planes at a defense trade show in Singapore. The company also posted on its website an essay written from the perspective of the Thrush aircraft. “I’m characterized by a rugged design in combination with long-range endurance, this makes me reliable and robust during challenging times,” read the essay. “I come along with a steeled body, so I am used to carrying heavy loads without effort. I am able to work under pressure and I stand my ground when others fly at me. All in all I am the perfect workhorse anywhere and in any situation.” A note after the essay referred to the Thrush’s “tank” armor and “ruggedized” frame. “Due to its incredibly robust, durable and reliable design features the Thrush aircraft is ready to use when others reach their limit,” said Wolfgang Grumeth, Airborne’s CEO. On its website, Airborne began actively promoting the sale of modified Thrush aircraft. It featured a photo of one of FSG’s modified planes.
An Austrian lawmaker, who has investigated arms trafficking for years, is in the preliminary stages of what he believes will become a criminal investigation into Prince and Airborne Technologies. Peter Pilz, a member of the Austrian Parliament, says he plans to present a public prosecutor with documentary evidence on the Thrush modifications and the plans to weaponize the aircraft. “We are definitely sure that it is against our laws of neutrality,” Pilz told The Intercept. He said the investigation would also examine possible violations of Austrian defense export regulations. “Prince and all the others are not guilty until there’s been a case and a trial. But this case is strong enough. It’s going to be a criminal case definitely.” Citing Blackwater’s history in Iraq and the “soldier of fortune business,” Pilz said, “It is unacceptable for us to have people like Erik Prince in Austria. We have to make that very clear.”
Airborne’s hangar is a stone’s throw from what was once the Wiener Neustadt aircraft factory, which the Nazis used to manufacture warplanes during World War II. Allied bombers repeatedly targeted the factory and ultimately reduced the entire city of Wiener Neustadt to rubble. “The crucial thing is that a company in Wiener Neustadt is once again building fighter airplanes, while combat airplanes were once the reason why this city was completely destroyed,” said the former Airborne employee. This fact, according to Pilz, will not be lost on the city’s residents. “I think that when people in Wiener Neustadt are informed [about] what’s going on in the area of their city, it will be a major political scandal,” Pilz said.
Kristof Nagl and Wolfgang Grumeth with Wiener Neustadt’s mayor at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Airborne Technologies facility.
Photo: Airborne Technologies
Airborne does not appear concerned. In early March, its executives broke ground on a new facility at Wiener Neustadt airport in Austria. The local mayor was on hand to celebrate, along with Nagl and Grumeth. An Airborne press release announced that the company had recently won “a number of significant orders from international Police and Military forces.” The company predicted unprecedented growth and a substantial expansion of its workforce. Among the structures it intends to build by September is a large hangar to house sensitive projects.
A recent LASA business proposal delivered to a foreign government, reviewed by The Intercept, offered to provide heavily modified, weapons-readied Thrush aircraft. It advertised the capability to equip the planes with missiles, bombs, and machine guns, though it noted that the weapons were not included as part of the specific package. The sales pitch contained multiple photos of a modified Thrush in flight. Its tail number matched the FSG plane grounded in East Africa.
This Thrush aircraft, originally purchased by FSG, is currently grounded at a hangar in East Africa.
Photo obtained by The Intercept
IN THE WEEKS preceding FSG’s board meeting in March in Hong Kong, a civil war was raging within the company. On one side stood Smith and Adm. Fallon, on the other, Erik Prince, backed by the board members representing the Chinese government’s stake in the company. As the U.S. leadership of FSG met with government officials and others, several of them had been encouraged to sever business ties with Prince. The government investigation was expanding, they were told, and it could affect FSG’s business.
From the perspective of Smith’s faction, the board meeting in Hong Kong would decide whether the company they had built could be salvaged. In their view, FSG was never intended to venture into the security business. A publicly traded company run by the best-known American mercenary, in their estimation, would not be able to obtain the licenses and permissions from the U.S. government necessary to operate in the private military industry servicing foreign governments. In Hong Kong, there would be a moment of truth: Either Prince would declare a new direction for the company, or Smith and the other Americans Prince had recruited three years earlier would solidify the original FSG mission.
FSG’s most prominent board member, retired Adm. William Fallon.
Photo: Bloomberg / Getty Images
In the last days of March, the board gathered at FSG’s offices on the 39th floor of an office building overlooking Kowloon Bay in Hong Kong. FSG’s Chinese board members wasted no time in declaring their allegiance to Prince and a new vision for the company. Prince’s experience and reputation, they said, would assist the company in offering security and training services as well as anti-terrorism consulting for Chinese businesses, according to a former U.S. intelligence official briefed after the meeting.
FSG’s Chinese board members wasted no time in declaring their allegiance to Prince.
The board didn’t even need to vote. Prince, the Chinese government investors, and his allies on the board controlled enough of the company to call the shots. FSG, the Americans were told, had been created to support China’s global economic plan. Logistics and aviation, it seemed, had been a sideshow. The decision was a complete rebuke of the U.S. leadership of FSG, specifically Smith and Adm. Fallon.
Prince had won the battle.
But, with an expanding U.S. government investigation into his activities and a business landscape riddled with burned bridges, a significant question continues to haunt Prince: Will he win the war?
“Brilliant idea — logistics in Africa — Prince has been talking about that for ten years,” said the former U.S. intelligence official, who has worked extensively with Prince. “He could have made money with FSG with his eyes shut. Everybody agrees and he didn’t do it. Why? Because it was going to be boring.”
Update: April 11, 2016
This article has been updated with an additional comment from Airborne’s attorney.
Additional Research: Janis Kreilis.
Top photo: Portrait of Erik Prince by Mark Peckmezian. Collage: The Intercept.
Related:
Erik Prince in the Hot Seat
Great reporting.
An amazing article, very well written and argued. Obviously you are not fans of his work and the tone is biased but at least you asked them all for comments.
Is it not true that American laws outlawing weapons sales are arbitrary, heavily political rather than law-based, temporary at best, and even then flouted by the U.S. or its allies as long as the public-facing dialogue remains on-message? I’ve been reading a lot of Noam Chomsky lately, it seems Erik Prince is only doing privately what the U.S. has been doing either clandestine or state-sponsered for as long as there WAS a U.S.
It’s hard not to be cynical when the U.S. government and/or its supporters and citizens cry moral high ground.
Onward Christian Soldiers marching off to war. With the cross of Jesus…… Greed mercenaries and Jesus. My great grandfather the minister is squirming in his grave….
Historically, the turning point in how the United States wages war happened during the Vietnam War. I know because I served as a medical corpsman in the war ( 31 May 1967 – 31 May 1968 ). After the Tet Offense of 1968, the American people gave up on the war, and they saw it for a foreign policy debacle that it was. And when Richard Nixon replaced the draft wth a lottery, he defused a ticking time bomb from the anti-war protesters. It was a smart but cynical ploy. They don’t call him “Tricky Dick for nothing. So the cherished ideal of citizens/soldiers fighting our wars, that nostalgia civilians cling to like a liferaft after the ship of state has been sunk, has became another casualty of the Vietnam War. Now we fight wars with a volunteer armed forces, well really, a mercenary force from the lower classes already fighting an economic war for survival in their lives and a large percentage of foreigners who have been promised by slick recruiters citizenship for military service. But this also happened in the waning days of the Roman Empire as it reached a breaking point for dominion over the world, as Chalmers Jognson of “Blowback” fame repeatedly point out in his books and lectures before he passed away. The privatization by corporations to wage war is the future landscape within which wars will be fought. If scientists ever succeed in cloning humans, a rich person could avoid a future war by sending his replicant into battle. Wish Phillip K. Dick would have lived long enough, because he could have written a sci-if novel based upon this premise. And one must remember that Thucycides wrote in his History of the Pelopennesian War an aristocrat in Athens could avoid military service against Spartans by paying 50 drachmas into the treasury. That qualified in Ancient Greece for draft dodging many of my fellow baby boomers opted out for when their still was a draft. But I hold no animus against them. In fact, if I could get into a time machine and travel back to the hippy dippy sixties, I would probably have dodged the draft. But that’s a case of an old man looking back with cynicism and regret upon his misspent youth. But even Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Colin Powell’s chief of staff at the state department during the Iraq War, has warned about this growing chasm between the 1% that marches off to war and the 99% that stays behind. Sooner or later, there will be a coup d’etat in our country, because there will always be another war as long as America remains a military empire.
Perfect photo, by the way. (He has that “constipated” look.)
I would like to offer two points in rebuttal to assist the author is his ignorance. The first would be to put an ounce of effort into historical research, the other would be if you don’t know what you are talking about, better to sit there and appear to be stupid then to put pen to paper and remove all doubt.
Google Condottieri. The professional standing armies, ie monopolies on power, are a rather modern invention for a host of reasons, resources/taxation being necessary to maintain one and the danger of the army itself to the wielder of the ring of power.
In regards to Africa specific, as an army officer currently serving in Africa I can assure of three things.
1) African armies leave much to be desired if you intend on winning a war. It was not accidental that the minority euro populations in Rhodesia and SA routinely destroyed larger enemy communist insurgent forces. The reason both those nations failed had more to do with western isolationism through communist/UN influence. Yes I know I’m repeating myself there.
2) The cost benefit ratio of using short-term professional warriors w/o strings attached to “kick a%% and take names” and then leave offers a host of favorable alternatives. These advantages include but are not limited too; the risk entailed from a large standing army (and keeping it happy) so you don’t have a cue on your hands, not having to deal with the long-term maintenance/training package required to keep modern weapons system working, which frankly, is often beyond the education/experience level of African armies anyway.
3) And finally, all the [email protected] strings attached for western governments support/intervention/equipment (and whom can’t fight and win their own wars) often preclude going down that road…..
This is not to say that there are not some bright spots with African armies or some military leaders, but if you have the resources, it sure makes it easier and cost effective to have someone clean up your messes and leave than having to do it yourself (man/equip/train rinse & repeat).
All you EP-haters remind me of a very simple truth I learned in my, um, experiential education. “Those who know don’t talk, and those who talk don’t know.”
This article and the inane comments demonstrate this perfectly.
Kevin: “Those who know don’t talk, and those who talk don’t know.”
Not true. Absolutely not true.
Spot on Kevin. The Intercept was played – and played well.
That’s some typical talk coming from an obvious mercenary. “Soldiers” of fortune like you are honorless skags, willing to sell your services to anyone with the wealth to pay for your service, and without any regard for morality, integrity, or purpose. You are the lowest form of life, and I have no doubt that you and all your ilk will spend eternity screaming in Hell for your crimes.
wow- that was a huge load. It’s really hard to know where to start. But before i run my mouth, let me first check outside to see if there is a modified crow hovering about and let me check to make sure that dog sitting at the corner is really a dog. I’ll throw him a dog treat to see if he eats it.
Meanwhile about that fellow who wandered into a countryside bar and sat down next to an attractive single female looking to pass some time.
Her: [looks. turns back, and takes another sip of her wine]
Him: howdy. Always nice to be in the company of a pleasant looking person such as yourself.
Her: Is that your come’on to engage me in conversation?
Him: It all depends on what you make of me.
Her: first impression. Your hair is scattered all over like a birds nest. Yer boots a full of dirt but your clothes are clean and you are early for someone on 9-5. I’m guessing yer just a farmer on yer way to the next field and your tractor is parked outside.
Him: I aint exactly a farmer. I’m a pilot.
Her: almost farmer and pilot ads up to crop duster.
Him: yeeeaah…. but you should see what i can do with a crop duster.
epilogue
for sale: cell phone that comes with built in frequency sweeper, signal jammer and infrared camera messer.
Did anyone else notice the lone hair under Erik Prince’s right eye brow? To pluck or not to pluck … that is the question.
I want DeCaprio to play EP in the movie.
that works!
Did anyone else notice the lone hair under Erik Prince’s right eye brow? To pluck or not to pluck … that is the question.
EP, aka Egotistical Psychopath. WTF!! How does this jerk wad get away with this? Has the US government gone completely mad allowing Erik Prince care Blanche to go around the world murdering people for the highest bidder? This madman needs to be arrested, tossed in prison and left to rot.
Why all the vitriol? He is useful for ridding the world of Islamacist extremists at a fraction of the manpower and cost. It’s win-win for everyone except the Muslim no one wants anyhow. Europe could stand to grow a few Eric Princes of their own to judge by their latest troubles…
” He is useful for ridding the world of Islamacist extremists at a fraction of the manpower and cost. ”
He has done no such thing, at any cost.
Again, he is useful for ridding the world of Islamacist extremists. I didn’t say anything about having done any such thing at any cost in the past as you read into my comment, but rather the potential of doing so at a fraction of the cost of a full on military scale-up.
Blackwater was good at what they did. They never lost a “customer” who had used their services– ever. The operators BW used were largely from the SpecOps field and are/were good at what they do.
Yeah they were great at murdering Iraqi civilians, and driving around like a bunch of animal hooligans, terrorizing, killing and injuring ordinary people. Sadly on a few got locked away for their crimes though, great pity.
“Has the US government gone completely mad allowing Erik Prince care Blanche to go around the world murdering people for the highest bidder? ”
YES. (unless you consider that the u.s. has done that vis-a-vis the spooks / operatives at the cia for decades. google u.s. sonsored assassinations)
You say that like the US is the only one who has done such things. I hate to break it to you, but that is the nature of man. There’s not a power structure in the history of mankind that has not meddled in others’ affairs. Ever.
This guy is a worse danger to the US than Trump! That anyone would even try to build a private air force is hard to believe, but what’s stopping it? What is also stopping the dark market trade in atomic weapons? If there is any surveillance of the depths of these efforts, it’s not clearly public.
Prince is the ultimate capitalist. America has failed to learn that it is better to play both sides of a conflict than to be a side of the conflict. America has been way too stupid for way to long. WAR IS A LOSING GAME in every respect. Eric Prince is teaching America a hard lesson.
Wake up and smell the coffee, America.
btw- both TRUMP & SANDERS take that view. Hillary wants a biiiiiig war. Crazy Cruz wants armageddon.
You decide.
And the difference between Eric Prince and Lockheed Martin or Boeing is what, exactly ?
The difference? Reputation, political access, and a hefty R&D division. Prince has been scapegoated by Congress yet provides a valuable service by being a deniable asset. He performs a service for our country in that instead of committing a sizable regular military unit to a politically intractable problem, he can address thorny local issues that the Pentagon or State Department cannot.
Let’s not kid ourselves– Eric Prince still conducts business with the blessings of our governmental overlords. He just goes by a different business name.
Here’s the thing: If legitimate governments refuse to do their duty and eradicate ISIS, then it is up to entrepreneurs to pick up the slack and take out the garbage. More power to EP and his fellow capitalists for filling the massive vacuum left by the Obama administration and, at the very least, attempting to do something useful rather than idly letting the “JV team” metastasize into a global cancer because of some sophomoric and misguided ideas about neocolonial power.
You’re missing the point. Prince isn’t stepping in to do anything of any benefit to anyone. He is merely doing what entrepreneurs always do—taking the cash and leaving someone else holding the bag. It’s surprising that you don;t know this when you use phrases like “sophomoric and misguided ideas about neocolonial power.”
He’s only been ineffective because of the interference of government. While there certainly is a limit to what individual companies should be able to do– particularly Chinese ones –digging out the Islamic extremists and/or Marxist organizations is a good thing.
Funny how self-made enemies are a convenience for entrepreneur(ism). That slick blind spot of the morality limits. You regard a person that can’t seem to understand that what goes around, comes around…and hopefully his day (and those like him) will very soon come around to visit…they all do. Those shitty crop dusters are now million dollar pieces of crap…good news for the environment and the innocent civilians they were targeted for. And to the likes of Salva Kiir with the big daddy hat…”your Christianity death squads are no different than the made up isis. You and Bush and this EP idiot will hopefully see your own demise very soon.”
I keep wondering what any of this has to do with US law though. None of the companies are US companies, and none of what is being done has anything to do with the US except that Erik Prince happens to originate from the US.
I just don’t get what the point is. The groups in question are going to kill each other. If they have to do it with machetes and clubs, they’ll do it. If they’re willing to pay for crop dusters to be outfitted with weapons, does anyone think those crop dusters will then be turned on the US, or Europe one day?
Does anyone really think one of those will do any significant harm to the US or Europe?
I just don’t see why people are so against this practice. Why is it any better for a government (say Syria?) to have access to these weapons, but not people?
What you advocate is a lawless anarchy in which anyone can sell the most dangerous arms to anyone with the funds. In an attempt to be civilized, the nations of the world legislate to regulate such sales. Why do you oppose this?
I’m guessing “freedumb!”
But don’t the countries that regulate the arms trade on the other hand deal the most arms?
You missed some sections of the piece, including these:
And:
The article is replete with people expressing deep concern about possibly illegal activities; illegal per the laws in several nations.
In general, these anti-arms trafficking laws are put in place to ensure that those various companies which are favored by governments get first shot at business.
All this pearl clutching about “crazy, blood thirsty” Eric Prince taking an Ag plane and tack welding some rocket pods on the wings ignores the fact that there are a goodly number of people in desperate need of killing. And when our legitimate governments fail to get busy making that happen with their impressively futuristic weaponry, the Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, al Shabbab, and ISIS cockroaches grow in strength and numbers. And less advantaged countries will purchase people like Prince’s services. Add to that China is looking to gain a foothold throughout Africa, and companies like FSG will continue to flourish.
The “need of killing” argument fails because since the Global War on Terror began, and despite (or rather because of) all the killing, the number of terrorists has grown 1200%.
But, y’know… that’s only according to the CIA… and who the hell trusts them.
Yes, I’ve read enough of your comments to realize you are an amoral (probable) sociopath. There is, therefore, nothing for us to discuss.
We sociopaths are quite sensitive. You are, of course, free to engage in such tactics of micro-aggression, but it perpetuates stereotypes about sociopaths that are unhelpful. Sociopaths make many important contributions to society, doing the dirty work of leadership and making tough decisions that normal, ‘decent’ human beings prefer to avoid.
Concur completely. The reason the U.S. government has an issue with Eric Prince is because the politicians don’t get their cut as they do from “legitimate” defense contractors who sell us $500 hammers. I wonder why Prince doesn’t move all his manufacturing to a friendly country, and avoid both the U.S. and Europe. Then he could escape the regulatory and political games limiting his operations and hardware. Mercenary forces have done good things in Africa, saving lives and making property secure from the freelance terrorists who infest the continent. The phrase from Old Texas that “Some folks just need killin'” is as true as it ever was.
Prince is basically a Bond villain at this point
I am very concerned that this so-called mercrnary might turn rogue one day. Are we witnessing the foundations of an underground assasination organization that until this day existed only as a figment of our imagination in spy movies and novels. James Bond comes to my mind. Pakistan created taliban initially as a mercenary army to fight against the Indians. The rest is history.
What if something similar happens in this case? The US government should not allow such a menace to even sprout in first place.
I look forward to the day that I hear of Eric Prince’s untimely and hopefully brutal death. This ghoul should have been locked up for life at birth. May Karma brutalize this evil subhuman….
That’s not the american way. The truth is, he is going to be made into the next super-hero for saturday morning toons that your kids can watch, learn from, and practice. The “do not try this at home” disclaimer will be in small white print against a white background. Also since this will be a digital presentation, there will be interactive stuff and mock weapons to click and buy. Also of course your kids can subscribe to the CROP DUSTER FIGHTER PILOT VIDEO GAME.
Prince is dangerous and should have been put in his place a long time ago.
Thanks for continuing to probe. Thanks for your excellent work.
Slow and low crop dusters will be an easy target for .50 cal. sniper fire. Is this practical? Don’t see how. Unless you are fighting almost weaponless terror or rebel groups, this looks silly.
Of course it’s silly: Although EP may have affinity for fellow dominionist clients, he is a mercenary, in every sense of the word. Of course he knows that a common Dushka can knock down ag planes, but his target clients have always been naifs, like the Bush Administration in Mesopotamia.
I would agree with that about low flying planes. But we are talking crop dusters here. And besides firing 50cals themselves, dropping clusterbooms, and firing assorted missiles, these crop dusters have a secret weapon….
This is the perfect all around combination 10-in-1 any time any where ultimate fighting machine. Just wait until you see one with the messerschmidt engine!
“Slow and low crop dusters will be an easy target for .50 cal. sniper fire. Is this practical?”
First thing came to my mind at the very beginning of this long, long, diatribe.
(I do like MT’s writings)
Arms export controls exist for a reason – to protect large US military contractors. When Erik Prince starts to threaten their profit margins, he has crossed a line.
That being said, I don’t quite understand why Mr. Prince was messing around with some Austrian plane manufacturer. Europeans are notoriously risk averse and love paperwork – it’s just a bad fit. The relationship with China makes more sense, although it has risks as well. They’ll start selling light armored fighter planes direct to end users and cut out Mr. Prince as the middleman. For now, I suppose, they value his contacts with clients, so the relationship is mutually beneficial.
It’s nice to see there are still some American entrepreneurs, even if the only place that will welcome them is communist China.
“entrepreneurs” ? I think the word is MERCENARIES…. scum of the earth.
Well I think the point is that arms sales to despotic regimes should always go through legitimate channels which benefit the Wall Street investors in the arms business. If Raytheon, United Technologies, Lockheed Martin etc. are signed off on the arms deals to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and it’s all been approved by the State Department (perhaps greased by large donations to the Secretary of State’s private foundation for the children), then that’s a good arms deal.
http://www.ibtimes.com/clinton-foundation-donors-got-weapons-deals-hillary-clintons-state-department-1934187
Now, the problem with Prince is that the correct way to covertly feed weapons to shady outfits like ‘anti-Assad Islamic fighters’ in Syria (aka Al Qaeda and ISIS) is to use a client state, say Saudi Arabia or Turkey or Israel or whoever as cut-outs, perhaps with covert CIA forces on hand to help train them how to use the weapons (like Raytheon’s TOW missiles, which have been captured in Syria from ISIS forces with their serial numbers arc-welded out).
Quasi-independent outfits like Prince, trying to run their own operations on the side – it makes everyone else look bad. On the other hand, if governments wants to finance some terrorist groups without having to go through a foreign country, they can use the offshore tax haven system (Panama Papers) to feed money to outfits like Prince’s which then ‘independently’ procure the weapons, which go to some group that uses them to mount a coup and overthrow some problematic uppity local government – but such outfits are not supposed to be offering their services to any and all governments – that’s just reckless. . .
Yes, Prince is a sleazy businessman with blood on his hands – but Obama is visiting Saudi Arabia on April 21 this month to shake hands with the Saudi Royals, who’ve used weapons purchased from the US to kill over 6,000 civilians in Yemen, and who’ve fed those weapons to ISIS in Syria with CIA approval. Obama oversaw a $60 billion arms deal with the Saudis, recall? Makes Prince look like pretty small potatoes, in comparison.
Why the antipathy towards mercenaries? They are at least, honest about what motivates them. Enlisted soldiers often believe they are defending freedom. But they end up fighting to depose some tinpot dictator who refused to sign a favorable oil deal. Is fighting to enrich someone else more noble than fighting to enrich yourself? Society believes so, but those running society have a vested interest in promoting this value system. I’m not saying anybody should question it, just pointing it out.
yup! Before EP came along, the u.s. was loaning millions and billions to these countries so they could use that money to by some revamped F30’s and Huey’s. Yup. the MICK was gonna make some reeeeeeeal huge money.
> to the tune of Along Came Jones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFyr49TwuiI
Congress got the loans..
and then?
They gave the go sign..
and then?
The contracts were drafted..
and then? and then?
EH EH
Then along came Prince….
da da da da da-da-da daaaaa…
wheelin’ dealin’ Prince…
da da da da da-da-da daaaaa…
low budget Prince
toe-steppin’ Prince
along came hardball pitchin’ piss-on’m Prince.
*disclaimer “Mick” is short for Military Industrial Complex Kings, an nothing else.
On a serious note, Austria lost the paperwork enterprise to the likes of Mossack Fonseca’s around the island world. Cut out Eric? I don’t think so.
1. Austrians would have to get deep into dirt and they prefer clean work
2. Eric holds the patents & trademarks thanks to the ever expanding Madrid Protocol (not sure abt patents but if this fails…
3. the TPP. This way, corporations can enter the war business and charge all sides.
aint life grand?
I disagree with your assessment that Austria (and its’ fellow European nations) wish to avoid getting dirt on their hands. They just prefer to avoid the appearance of dirtiness. Just like Germany working with Iraq to sell them missile guidance electronics back in the day or all of the EU rushing to cash in on Iran now that the sanctions have been lifted, these governments want the money and a clean conscience even when doing business with countries with bad intentions.
It’s this passive-aggressive world view that causes the trouble. All the hand wringing about mercenaries is just a smokescreen for a tendency to do nothing but let the world devolve towards chaos even as you profit from its destruction.
I admire people like Prince who while engaged in business still are clear headed enough to want to get things done. More power to him.
Golfschatzi you are spot on also – who is the biggest exporter of handguns world wide? Austria – Glock19 – which ‘has a firm policy of neutrality’.
great article!! wow
Too long to wade through all of it, but I did use the search function and found the words “secret” or “secrecy” 12 times and the word “illegal” 3 times. The gist of this is that a guy in the arms business basically, had an idea for a specialized war plane and had it built. He has apparently not been charged with any crime in relation to it. Opinions are not chargeable, so I will wait until somebody in law enforcement says “illegal.” Meantime, this is an overly dramatized piece.
Thanks for not reading through this but still letting us know what the “gist” was.
“Too long to wade through all of it…(snip) Meantime, this is an overly dramatized piece.”
Says one who declares Reading For Dummies too long to wade through..but overly dramatized.
Meantime, this is an overly dramatized piece.
Could the Government of the United States of Capitalism “purchase it’s services” to secretly invade another country with the intentions to overthrow a democratically elected government and install a political leader of their choice? This article(and a well written one by the way) has ISIS written “all over it”. http://williamblum.org/books/killing-hope/ Capitalism has been doing this since WW2. Millions have been murdered.
i suppose you are arguing the “too many notes” protocol.
ok.
dcentdiscourse?
how abt d*en********se as in DENSE?
(this is a must read, not a casual getby, board)
If the Nazi Brown Shirts could be the spark for such horrific worldwide destruction with just their fists and clubs no one could imagine what devastation a psychopathic liar like Erick Prince with a formidable Air Force could unleash. Can any moral leadership shut down this greedy maniac for good, before he sets up a private nuclear mercenary strike force?
James Madison said, “A standing army is one of the greatest mischief that can possibly happen.” Madison is probably banging on his coffin and crying out “How can you imbeciles let something like private militarization happen so the likes of mankind’s most banal are coup d’état enabled”.
James Madison said, “A standing army is one of the greatest mischief that can possibly happen.”
ok
and who was it that said … “We are waaaaaay beyond that point.”?
Capitalism at it’s finest at the bottom of the scum sucking Lord’s of War cesspool. In a parallel universe of sanity, every last one of these maggots who profit off the misery and death of the human race would be lined up and publicly shot.
Where would you buy the guns to shoot them?
No need to waste money on guns or bullets on this scum, just use rope and hang them high.
Because a successful “GLOBAL GEO SURVEY” clearly demands armed overweight crop-dusters.
How’s that misdirection alone not raise watchdog red flags? That seems an insane concept.
Uniquely – when it comes to Erik Prince it seems a whole lot of governments, and not just the U.S. though obviously their MO too, don’t want to know what they don’t want to know. How’s that happen, anyway?
Fortunately, there’s The Intercept. Thank you everyone!
Hey Jeremy and Matthew-
Did I miss the paragraph where ret. Admiral William Fallon resigned from the board after the Chinese backed Prince?
And, shouldn’t we conclude from that board meeting that Prince regained his authority and is no longer on double secret probation?
And that his cronies were probably rehired too?
A good mystery novel never leaves loose ends.
Thanks
A
Oh, and btw… I remember comparable wording in the last Prince article-
“Blackwater had been broken up, with its pieces renamed and Prince largely excluded from their operations”
What exactly does “largely excluded” mean?
You’re either excluded, or you’re not.
Does he remain a major shareholder with input?
A
Adm. William Fallon
http://www.fsgroup.com/our-team/william-j-fallon/
http://www.fsgroup.com/who-we-are/
I guess not.
Apparently, the honorable former admiral and Smith (the supposed “good guys” trying to stop Prince) are actually willing participants… they lost the internal struggle, yet continue to cash their paychecks.
Their principles are just oozing from every orifice.
A
Does anybody know what “largely excluded” really means?
“Proper loyalty” is the most important requirement for unwarranted and excessive secrecy. Americans are first and foremost loyal to the U.S. Constitution – a wartime charter designed to be followed during wartime.
Following the blunder in Iraq, although Congress banned private contractors from participating in future interrogations – Congress never finished the job.
If Executive Branch agencies can simply “farm-out” un-American and un-constitutional activities to private contractors. The U.S. Constitution and their own oath of office are totally meaningless.
Congress should have legislated very stiff penalties for both government officials and their private contractors that are disloyal to their oath of office to follow the U.S. Constitution.
Proper loyalty is the most important requirement for such unwarranted and excessive secrecy. We can’t have a democracy with this level of secrecy.
Nice post: “proper loyalty… and excessive secrecy for them”, but for us the end of privacy.
Ed Snowden made the point in a recent video shown on The Intercept “…that it is all turned upside down as privacy is the right of the private citizen not the right of ‘public’ officials”, of which we need to know that they are serving us not serving us up like on a menu.
They are serving up our hearts through film, our minds through media, our progeny through debt, our morality through consumerism, our kinship through meritocracy, our health care through vampires, our compliance through an educational system delivering thoughtlessness, through the banality of war and fear mongering, and through obliteration of our fragile planet.
But here is hope as there will be a new Presidential Library, and then another, and then another…
“They are serving up our hearts through film, our minds through media, our progeny through debt, our morality through consumerism, our kinship through meritocracy, our health care through vampires, our compliance through an educational system delivering thoughtlessness, through the banality of war and fear mongering, and through obliteration of our fragile planet.”
Very well put. Thank you, Fellow Citizen
The culture and mentality personified by EP is neither isolated nor rare throughout our major institutions. There are many more cautious and connected players. Much more sunlight than a show trial or two (EP one particularly hubristic target) would be required, to inform the citizenry of the scale and significance of the derangement of defining principles in the USA.
Austrians (through far more painful experience than USans) are a higher-functioning society in these matters, and I expect they will continue to demonstrate that.
Meanwhile in the USA, our cultural self-gratification will continue to host the looming nemesis of our world.
“Austrians (through far more painful experience than USans) are a higher-functioning society in these matters, and I expect they will continue to demonstrate that.”
TI:
“Airborne does not appear concerned. In early March, its executives broke ground on a new facility at Wiener Neustadt airport in Austria. The local mayor was on hand to celebrate, along with Nagl and Grumeth. An Airborne press release announced that the company had recently won “a number of significant orders from international Police and Military forces.” The company predicted unprecedented growth and a substantial expansion of its workforce. Among the structures it intends to build by September is a large hangar to house sensitive projects.”
Higher-functioning….? And what way is that? Looks like SOP to me…[sensitive projects]…let me guess…
“Die Zeit wird zeigen”
I expect it will be instructive on this point of comparison to follow the story; public and official response to the scandal in Austria.
Thank you.
Yes as you said “cultural self-gratification”, maybe our hope lies in the power of the masses awakening to the horrid greed ridden example of the oppressive elites.
Those that gave the Native Americans Smallpox latent blankets considered them mere savages.
Perhaps those that profit by blanketing us with CO2 consider us mere “welfare-ians”.
Well Said.
The U.S. Constitution and their own oath of office are totally meaningless.
yep. that about says it all. about meaning that the Geneva Convention is also regarded as used toilet paper by the u.s.
say… you heard about the new wallstreet ipo called “Rendition And Pacification Enterprises, inc.”? ticker RAPE.
scahill and cole are two very useless snitches. May they die slow and painful deaths.
The Prince of Mayberry…
had a big dream
but time got short
and could not fly a scheme
He tried to hide
himself inside
the circle that busted out the seam…
somebody needs a happy face
:D
….hummmmm….did they step on a “investor’s” last nerve with these well researched articles?
…..guess they were doing a good job then…..
I interviewed schizophrenics as a part of my job who had better judgment than you. Seriously.
Oh come on, this is all in line with the evisceration of the former regime, the collapse of the previous aspirant to the throne, and the people who worked for the fallen prince are now willing to talk to the press – how the mighty have fallen! Where is Donald Rumsfeld now? Hiding from his admiring public, no doubt – just like Scooter ‘Germs’ Libby and Dick ‘Shooter’ Cheney, they aimed high and fell so low. Can’t even walk the streets without looking over their shoulder, waiting for that summons.
Of course, I’d like to see Scahill & Cole devote their talents to more significant issues, like Obama era support for the Saudi-ISIS agenda, in the form of TOW missile deliveries – but I guess we’ll just have to wait for another turn of the political screw for such revelations, won’t we? It’s in the pipeline, anyway. . .
So: someone who reports about someone promoting endless war is a snitch?
What is your reason for living? To kill and destroy?
It’s only endless war when a buffoon like Obama uses his uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory every time. It wouldn’t be endless if we simply finished killing our enemies to the point where they lose heart and leave the field of battle. This is not some newfangled war strategy. Sun Tzu endorsed this means of winning wars centuries ago.
So the rat comes out of the sewer. Consider it payback for all the Iraqi civilians Blackwater murdered.lets hope it’s you that dies that slow and painful death, maybe burning in a drum of diesel, as it burns much slower.Long live journalists that expose your crimes.
Did this article upset a baby-killing mercenary ? Good. May YOU die a slow and painful death…you and anyone else involved in the mercenary business..you disgusting excuse for a human being….
For every action…there is an equal and opposite “Global Initiative”…
Erik Prince – what a nutcase. No wonder Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and friends were so closely involved with Blackwater – such outfits feed right into their privatized military unilateral global dominance wet-dream fantasies.
I wonder if they kept the crop-duster’s original capacity – it could be used for dispersal of chemical weapons, which have been used in East Africa before (Mussolini use of mustard gas in Ethiopia 1935-1936). Nothing would really be surprising.
Journalism like this is why I read The Intercept.
I wish the editors would stop posting bullshit Twitter stories… but expecting perfection is not realistic.
Fantastic job crew. I got the impression that even if this story was not written, there were enough whistle blowers willing to cry foul for this these allegations to go public… +1 point to humanity.
Minus all the passive tense and horrible editing. Jeez.
Prince should be tried for treason…
This has all the hallmarks of ISIS…
And this ego maniacal cancer of the US Military Complex will completely eat itself up. I would not be surprised if this was a continued faux dictatorship of a Bush/Cheney/McCain deception working against the US and any citizen of the world. There is the blatant political talk of Austria but their actions speak louder. Also NATO it appears will be bombing citizens in their name but without them knowing it. All nations will reap what they have sown with their wars with this kind of horrid deception. History is repeating itself by erasing boundaries and killing self declared enemies in operating on their own authority. Well done article. (And I don’t have to think hard to which ME country the sale of these illegal planes of warfare were contracted.)
Eph 2:1-2
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
(NAU)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/07/military-pensions-four-star-officers/4359023/
“….That means a four-star officer retiring with 40 years of experience would receive a pension of $237,144, according to the Pentagon. Base pay for active-duty top officers is $181,501, according to Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a Pentagon spokesman. Housing and other allowances can boost their compensation an additional third.”
The way things are going a four-star officer (or any other *-star officer ) will not need or collect any pension.
I’m sick of them….no heart…no devotion to home…no compassion for humanity. I posted it so “tax payers” can get a glimpse, esp. the lower income that can barely put food on the table let alone have a car to put gas in. ‘effing traitors of this country and world. My heart is overwhelmed to see a “FEW GOOD MEN” here at TI. May all your abilities be of use when this land is cleansed of this evil. God Bless you all….
Is there a stone under which a scorpion can hide when Scahill is on his tail?
I used my bloodhounds for criminal searches, as well as search and rescue, as they have the finest noses in the canine world. I am gonna make Jeremy an honorary bloodhound, as he is great at sniffing these things out. Awesome job, Jeremy! BTW have you been banned from MSNBC, as I haven’t seen you on there in ages.
I am glad you said that. Scahill is awesome in getting information.
I agree to making him an honorary bloodhound. The best.
Covert weapons are being used to deny, disrupt, deceive and degrade targets all accross the country in secret. Cointelpro/Gangstalking operations subverting rule of law and undermining constitution. Expose programs as innocent Americans are being put in danger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvgZWDwWqEo
@Spam asshole:
You shit on virtually every single thread, no matter what the subject content of the article.
And you respond to many of these comments, as if you find the truth offensive.
What is it about the truth that’s so upsetting and repugnant, Kitt?
And nice language, by the way. You have every right to say it, but it reflects poorly, in my opinion.
Now you have a good day, Kitt.
Thank you. I’m not a spammer, but only trying to inform the public what’s been going on in secret for over a decade and it’s relevant to EVERYONE. Devices like Stingray and fusion centers are being used to stage crimes and blacklist citizens. It’s the most important story happening within this country in secret. There are very few avenues to get this out as our computers are being tampered with and sites like YouTube get hit. Mainstream media, for over a decade has remaind silent on these crimes, but we know exactly how they are covertly being done, yet after a decade you have agencies like the ACLU still acting like they have no idea how these devices are being used or why the public should give in to fights like Apple. Again, thanks for sticking up and i have no idea what that persons problem is. Thanks to the intercept also for allowing posts.
You’re welcome, fgt4urights. One day the truth will out. (It’s a topic that many ignore, including the MSM, while it elicits the wrath of others.)
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
Very much appreciated and very glad there is hope out there that not everyone is asleep and as ignorant as Kitt.
many thanks for your voluntary effort and contribution
Thank you very much for your sincere kind words, much appreciated.
I have no need or interest in phony “nice language” whiner assholes lying about their wishes for how might day might go.
F4urights flushes out actual reason Kitt exists… And it’s not the first time he’s exposed himself. Mona also does a good job of exposing herself as tail-chasing crusader against disinfo agents such as herself.
Stan:
Maybe, or maybe not, but calling people “perps” and “disinfo agents” only plays into the hands of those running this program. At best, it’s just silly (and sounds paranoid). At worst, it’s counterproductive and harmful.
Ever hear of Stockholm syndrome, anonymous?
You say “Ever hear of disinformation, Kitt?”, I say “disinfo agent”. If Kitt’s not paid, he’s still a shown himself to be an emotionally invested Stasi tool many times. Directness is better. To you that’s silly and paranoid, but it makes no sense for a long term US torture subject such as myself to be concerned with how chicken-shit, gullible Americans perceive me. Good luck with your politeness thing. May it save you from harm.
While I typically wouldn’t wish the stalking/harassment on anyone, Mona and Kitt are certainly exceptions. Let ’em have a taste.
I’m no spammer and you have some deep psychological issues going on going off the handle like an idiot. Don’t click on my videos or read my posts as it could save your life and lower your blood pressure as you seem to have some serious anger issues. You’re also a pathological liar to claim i shit on virtually every single thread. If anyone ever wonders why the world is so screwed up is because of people like Kitt. When someone sticks their neck out, puts themselves in danger and the very people your are only trying to tell the truth and warn are the very ones who attack you. I get nothing for this, absolutely nothing except being murdered and framed. So i’m being respectful that i’m someone elses site, but your the defination of a true POS.
I don’t “click on your fucking videos” and I don’t need your medical advice. Telling you to piss off isn’t detrimental to my health.
You’re insane. See quote: “except being murdered and framed”
You just showed your intelligence, as you have none. This has been documented for almost a decade, and yes Tampa Police departments intelligence unite came to my job last year, framed me to cover-up these programs and crimes being committed. Not to mention the multiple death threats followed up with multiple accidents…ALL filmed. But you would make an excellent detective just like them as they wouldn’t touch the evidence. I’m glad you’re so intelligent to know who i am, or what i have been thru, even to go so far as not look up the link, yet call me insane. That’s hard detective work there on your part to come to such an intelligent conclusion. I get it, from the other person’s post (anonymous) you are The Intercept troll of ignorance. Seems your well known for being a complete moron. Take your meds it’s past 5 hours.
Here, have an adventurous and long outing with this “Rational Wiki” link
Ever hear of disinformation, Kitt?
I am the primary (but not exclusive) author of that piece. I assure you, it is fact-based, as the reference notes show.
Moreover, I am known by many people here, an have a long record as a civil libertarian who is deeply suspicious of government power. (In fact, I’m Glenn Greenwald’s former law partner and we are friends.) The idea that I would publish “disinformation” is absurd.
I suggest you take a real good look at that article — and all the reference notes. And perhaps seek out mental health services.
As the “primary (but not exclusive author of that piece)”, one might think that you have too much time on your hands, Mona. “Disinformation”…garbage: same difference, in this case.
One thing is abundantly clear: You ride coattails. And perhaps you’re not as smart as you think you are.
Your personal attacks on me are driven by my participating in fact-gathering that pierces your paranoid delusions. Denial, however, is dangerous. Myron May is only the most extreme example (so far) of what this affliction and its set of beliefs can do to individuals and those who love them.
Please stop promoting this dangerous, fact-free codswallop. It isn’t benign. And in any event, the writers here do not write on this “Targeted Individual” mania. This is not a site for that discussion.
What a bunch of hogwash.
Run mouth now, eat crow later.
Thanks for the government written propaganda. Did you get this from your job to hand out? I really do appreciate it as i didn’t know such stupidity was written, but my next video or two will deal with this link specifically, specifically to obliterate it and you. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and i can assure you Kitt, i will make you look like the fool you have no idea you really are. I will address it on here when it’s done in the next week or two it should take. My next one will also do the job, but this specific link and slander will be addressed and i will address you. I don’t deal with lizard people Kitt. I deal with rogue government, corporations and guys like this article is written about conducting covert criminal activity with weapons built for war and brought back into our communities. Weapons like Stingray, how they were really being used. It’s rather odd you’re on a site which specifically deals with rogue government, spying and technology, yet are acting ignorant to these things not even being real. You sure sound like a government troll and apologist. You know what i think, i think you know it’s all a fact, i think you know it’s true. You’re showing your true colors.
That’s an example of how you just can’t stop yourself from lying. My not being interested in your “Targeted Individual” shit that the link I posted dealt with has not a fucking thing to do with my interest in the things that Glenn, Jeremy, Snowden, Raddack, Drake, Poitras have written about and made films about.
Kitt, as you know I am friendly with several people in the whistleblower community and their allies, people who do public speaking in this area. More than one has told me these TIs have sometimes very aggressively harangued them at speaking events and that security had to be alerted.
The Myron May case is just one piece of horrific evidence that these delusional beliefs are not harmless. Just as the Satanic Ritual Abuse nonsense harmed many real and innocent people, this nonsense has equal ability to cause enormous, even fatal, damage.
Strange, the very person getting aggressive and using fowl language in a rage was Kitt, who sounded like a lunatic. The posts are there for all to see. Yet, the very type of person and personality, an irrational one, one you specified TIs are like is the one you cozy up with. That’s called irony. It’s also very strange you completely try to slander me by posting this crap of a post, yet you know absolutely nothing about me nor did you do a minute worth of investigation to disclaim. I really hope you’re not a journalist. If you are you need to get a new profession or go work for the Onion.
So it’s now delusional belief rogue law enforcement and intelligence agencies are corrupt and involved in criminal activity? It’s insane to think government agencies can be corrupt? That’s such an outlandish crazy story. Not possible, and could never happen. It’s equivalent to Godzilla rising from the sea in the next few minutes. Or maybe as crazy as the Satinic Ritual you tried to mix this all up with. Now that’s crazy. You throw in Satinic Ritual Abuse to smear this in the same league. Pathetic.
Again i’ll address you and your idiotic article for all to see what shills you are. Let the readers decide who you really are and if my claim is factual, one where you can call a former job or see the police documents, even hear the recordings then put up and shut up by never coming back to this site. EVER. Once the readers decide it’s true, and they will know it’s true both you shills never come back to this site. Put up or shut up as it should be so easy to disclaim a crazy, deranged person. Because a person that crazy can’t be rational in their thinking or critical thinking skills. It should be so easy for you to dismiss. You want to take that bet for all to see? I put up and shut others up. So far, your negative “0” with your Satanic Ritual Abuse crap trying to weave in with your delusional childhood to discredit me. I never asked anything from anyone, only posted a link for others to check out, that was all. Now it ended with your delusional childhood of Satanic Ritual abuse nonsense. I’m sure there who be many readers on here happy to see both you go and there wouldn’t be any tears.
I strongly urge you to seek professional medical help. Myron May was a tragic case that ended in his death by cop, after he shot several people under the stress of these TI delusions. Others afflicted with this paranoid set of beliefs have also seen their lives ruined.
Peddling this craziness online is encouraging very sick people in their illness. You should stop, for the benefit of these people and their loved ones.
You are not at all the first Targeted Individual to land here; hordes of them have. Greenwald banned many, but many still come back.
Comments here are for discussion of the actual issues facing us, issues like Erik Prince and his machinations. The laments of these afflicted TIs are not among these real and serious problems focused on by the writers here. Perhaps a mental health site would be a better choice for you.
Good luck.
“That’s an example of how you just can’t stop yourself from lying”
Please show the post where i asked you to be interested in anything, or again, are you lying?
I just posted a link for anyone to check out and YOU, specifically got nasty like a psycho for no good reason. The same way that shill of a so called reporter stated so called TI’s act was the very way YOU were acting and i NEVER did anything to you or EVER said anything to you
as you are just a nasty person. Don’t worry, i will embarass both of you and tear apart that crap of an article for all to see. Again, i laid out a challenge and can back-up on my end, but hope when you leave this site you never come back. Again, i’m sure alot of people would be happy with your departure.
Moaning mona can you drop any more names? Tell your agency bosses, Comey or Lynch it’s time for a promotion. kitt / mona stick to whimpering for Israel.
Can’t you have your idiotic conversation with fgt4rights somewhere else?
Excellent factual reporting. Would be very interested to see someone do an analysis of the creepy fantasist aspects of Erik Prince’s life’s work:
“one of Prince’s lieutenants, a retired South African special forces officer, began building a proposal for Prince that could be pitched to President Kiir. Code-named Project Iron Fist”
I think money motivates this guy, sure; but there is a some boodle of sincere imperialist race perviness in there, too. It sounds like it is marked enough to even freak out his own circle of soulless greedmonsters.
Victor Bout wanna be
When you guys pitching it to FX,Netflix or HBO for a 8 episode series like ‘The Honorable woman’. Loved It!
That probably explains why he has no cattle. .. to speak of.
*and that probably explains how a cattle rustler like Mr. Prince could make a quick buck from someone who is all hat and no cattle.
This is superb investigative reporting. I have just one little nit to pick. Early in this piece, it was stated that these Thrush aircraft were flown from the US to Austria. I’m not sure if this aircraft has the capability to fly that distance without refueling. Perhaps they were transported in a disassembled state in another aircraft? This is just an astonishing story of corporate duplicity. Well done Mr. Scahill and Mr. Cole and the others as well.
They almost certainly would not have flown direct, nonstop even if they have the fuel capacity to do so, being single engined planes. They would have hopscotched the way that all such flights used to, and the way that small planes (especially propeller driven ones) still do. The article doesn’t even imply a direct, nonstop flight, just a start and endpoint.
Maybe the language wasn’t entirely clear, but it seems likely that they were describing transport planes flying the planes to their destinations. Isn’t that extremely common?
I would think so. It’s a nit pick by me. From the article:
In May 2014, both Thrush planes were flown from the U.S. across the Atlantic Ocean to Airborne’s hangar.
I don’t think one of these aircraft could fly from Georgia state to, say, The Azores, without running out of fuel first.
Bangor, Goose Bay, Narsarsuaq, Reykjavík, Wick, etc. are legs all well within range (<800nm) for typical general aviation with/without ferry tanks. Given the original registration numbers from the Ayres factory (nothing covert about the green aircraft deliveries to Austria) these would be easy to substantiate.
Looks like Mr. Prince is bucking the legal arms trade and its backers, stockholders and other peripheral paid-off beneficiaries. The man has obviously tried to rise above his station and bigger fish eat smaller ones. They will “leak” all over him, cost him money and lock him up if they can. He has for now surpassed his usefulness to the Gods of War.
Lockheed Martin and BAE does business like this every day around the world. They just have more lawyers and gov. to gov. contacts to pave the road.
The western approach to African civil wars of sanctioning both sides has been proven over and over to just prolong these conflicts. Some of them turn into “slow cooker” wars that drag on for decades and end up killing civilians by the tens of thousands. Reality is there are no perfect “peace partners” in these wars. Hell, even Mandela was on the terrorist ban list of the USA after his release. Better to just pick the least evil side and arm the hell out of them, so at least it ends quickly.
B.T.W To the author….,if you want to be taken seriously by people with a military background, there is no such thing as a “special forces pilot”.
Regards
Former Submarine Paratrooper
Or arm the hell outta all of em.. Something about this article reminds of King’s “Needful Things.” The U.S. is training folks all over the Afircan Cont.? Why?
— Navy, SpecOps PS42, and part-time badass Coxswain
no such thing as this memoir for example:
http://www.amazon.com/Special-Forces-Pilot-Flying-Falklands/dp/147382317X
That’s a title of a book Vic!
There is no such thing as a special forces pilot. Even the air-force units that specialize for SOCOM don’t refer to themselves as “special forces pilots”. Helicopter pilots fly everything from generals to spam around the place. Just because I had a couple of special ops guys in my truck that one time doesn’t make me a special forces truck driver does it?
thanks for the tip bootlicker but i doubt you know how things work down under, as that is an aussie pilot mate
That must explain how it is that the most well armed nation in world history has ended it’s “War On Terrorism” so quickly, … right? That also must explain how same armed to the gills nation ‘ended’ the Vietnam war so, um, “quickly?”
Quote: “Some of them turn into “slow cooker” wars that drag on for decades and end up killing civilians by the tens of thousands . . ”
In the case of South vs. North Sudan, that was a colonial French map-drawing creation that attempted to tie a group North African Muslims together with completely separate groups of sub-Saharan Africans with entirely different religious traditions.
The two groups were set to peacefully separate into independent countries in the early 1970s when Chevron engineers discovered oil in South Sudan; ever since it’s been a site of endless civil war as the north did not want to give up the lucrative oil revenue. And endless stream of refugees has fled from there over the decades, but the conflict goes on and on.
“Let’s hope they don’t discover oil here. Then we’ll have real problems.” – Blood Diamond
Interesting, Sudan is part of the U.S. military’s CENTCOM ‘Area of Responsibility’, which stretches from the Horn of Africa to the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea basin and Southwest Asia. Wonder what the locals think about that? Most Americans probably have little idea that the U.S. military is ‘responsible’ for all these countries. What would they say if China said Hawaii was within its “Area of Responsibility”?
Quote: “Better to just pick the least evil side and arm the hell out of them, so at least it ends quickly.”
That’s not what has happened in any of these conflict zones, has it? It’s more like ‘arm the hell out of both sides, to improve the bottom line of arms manufacturers’, I think. But that (more realistic) view doesn’t have that aura of “doing good” without which many more military people would start wondering, “WTF are we doing here anyway?”
Yes we could always do nothing – but that might have a worse result. Which is what the military intervention / regime change people want to believe, at any rate. I wonder. . .
The French have never had anything to do with Sudan or it’s regions.
There was never a plan for the Sudan to divide into two countries in the early 70’s.
France, Belgium and Britain all participated in the drawing of the Sudan’s borders; the French West Africa zone (where they still control Niger’s uranium mines), the Anglo-Egyptian zone, and the Belgian Congo zone all intersected at what is the border of South Sudan; so the colonial powers divided up the territory with no regard for local tribal divisions.
And yes, there was a plan for peaceful separation of the north from the south in the early 1970s – until Chevron got involved:
https://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/10.htm
“Chevron was granted its oil concession in 1974, shortly after the agreement on southern autonomy ended the separatist war in the south. Chevron discovered oil in this autonomous region in 1978, and by the time a second civil war broke out in the south in 1983 was developing Unity and Heglig oilfields. Located in today’s GNPOC Blocks 1 and 2 in Western Upper Nile/Unity State, these oilfields were home to the Nuer and Dinka, members of the two largest ethnic groups in southern Sudan.”
So there was this agreement on southern autonomy, in the early 1970s, and then, after the oil discoveries, the north (Islamic North African tribes) tried to exert support over the south (animist Central African tribes) in order to gain control of the oil revenue.
Years ago I met a teenage refugee from that early 1980s conflict who escaped North Africa hiding in the hold of a cargo ship, made it to Europe, and was eventually granted political asylum in California.
I understand your point to try to end these kinds of conflicts ASAP, but just picking a side to arm and letting them go at it often begets a host of problems unforeseen. Going after flies with a sledgehammer has a narrow range of application.
If you want to be taken seriously by people with a military background, try to use some grey matter on occasion and an alternate strategy.
former U.S. Army Intelligence Analyst
The University of Virginia’s Miller Center will still, I have no doubt, be happy to invite this war profiteer to speak again and fawn all over him. It’s 80 years since a Congressional committee proposed taking profits out of mass murder ( https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/nye.htm ) and less than a year since the Pope got a standing ovation from Congress for telling them to end the arms trade.
“We see a rise of private armies that act in various battlefields, like in Ukraine, exactly because in the absence of the nation-states and the national armies, someone has to protect the natural resources and the new means of production for the dominant elite. But when the arms industry will fully automate the new weapons, private armies will only serve as assistance to fully automated war machines. We already see the test fields of the weapons of future? the drones in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.”
http://bit.ly/XFjGMQ
This boy walked away from a thriving Auto parts corporation. A company his father built from ground up. All to play GI Joe. Now thousands are unemployed and this egomaniac can’t figure out what went wrong . . . rot in hell erik . . .