Where everything is bad, it must

be good to know the worst.

F.H. Bradley
click the image to pause and/or resume the film
Excuses:
Perhaps it should first be said that this is a difficult project to write
in the context of this assignment. Cruise missiles are not a natural
resource, and the production of them is not transparent enough to
adequately track the entire product life cycle from cradle to grave
without further investment of time and research.

Another point to be made is that while the use of natural resources

for producing these weapons is significant, it‟s quite small in
comparison to industries like the automotive or commercial
aerospace industries. Accordingly, I place less emphasis on the
exploitation of these materials and the communities affected by
production and extraction, and instead focus on variables more
relevant to the topic and the approach to this study…
This presentation is
divided into five sections:
Product:
The Tomahawk Cruise Missile
Industry:
Corporate profile of Raytheon
Institutions:
The US Armed Forces and missile testing
Resistance:
The struggles against the Defense Industry and
US Military weapon testing, storage, and use
End of the Line:
What happens after the explosions
Explanation:
In the study of the guided missile industry in the US, I found that
there was little information about contaminants in the production
facilities and the areas that surround them. While I do not wish to
completely dismiss the exceptions (there were many), upon closer
inspection, I found that the actions of these corporations and their
#1 customers (the Pentagon) outside of the US were far more
appalling (see Vieques, Puerto Rico).
Consequently, I devote more attention to the problems of missile
testing and disposal using Maehyang-ri as a case study. This
provides an excellent example some of the non-conflict related
repurcussions of missiles and other incendiary devices.
Technology
This section attempts to explain the workings of cruise missiles using the
Tomahawk cruise missile as an example/case study

The Tomahawk cruise missile:

1. Ingredients
2. Specifications
3. Function
Bill of Materials
While the materials that make up cruise missiles are classified, it can be
safely assumed that there is a good deal of aluminum, plastic, and steel
alloys involved in the production of the frame. Additionally, there are
lightweight and heat resistant ceramic compounds, as well as structural
plastic (some „corrugated‟, and some structural foam). The engine is largely
composed of aluminum and steel alloys, as well as the fuel tank. In the
tomahawk missile, the fuel supply is a solid fuel compound, which
undoubtedly contains nitrogen, some powdered metal, crystalline oxidizer,
and a polymer (plastic) binding agent. The launch tube is made of a special
resin (plastic) that is monofilament wound for stability and endurance (but not
re-use!) In this section, I go into details of the missile‟s materials and their
sources.
Aluminum
makes up most of the outer hull, and much of the structure for the frame.
Aluminum is the third most commonly used metal in industry, after iron and
steel. It is used here (and typically for aeronautical purposes) because it‟s
lightweight, and in some cases stronger than steel. Aluminum occurs naturally,
but for industrial purposes, it is extracted from bauxite ore. There are
numerous bauxite deposits worldwide, mainly in the tropical and subtropical
regions, but also in Europe and the southeastern United States. Bauxite is
generally extracted by open cast mining from strata, typically some 4-6 yards
thick under a shallow covering of topsoil and vegetation. Aluminum is
extracted from bauxite ore in a process that requires incredible amounts of
electricity, which is the key reason for its higher cost relative to steel. Recent
examples of indigenous peoples being upset/displaced by bauxite mining
operations can be seen in the cases of Alcoa Mining company in Indonesia
(under Suharto) and in the acts of civil disobedience in response to Hydro
Aluminum‟s operations in India.
Steel
is used in reinforcement, the fuel tank and in smaller hardware (In the
Tomahawk, some of these may be substituted for titanium). Its advantages
are low cost, a wide range of attainable mechanical properties, and a high
modulus of elasticity (ductility). Steel is primarily iron and carbon, and is
processed and alloyed with other metals to achieve different properties. Iron
ore is mined worldwide, and the US, not surprisingly, is the biggest importer.
To become steel, iron is melted in a blast furnace to remove impurities, then
goes through a series of cooling, reheating and/or “cold working” processes
to achieve the desired properties. Steel is typically alloyed with Nickel and/or
Chromium, though it is often processed with other metals as well. Industrial
iron mining practices strip the land, leak toxins into the earth/water supply,
and displace people. Steel mills release ash and other emissions in the air, as
well as decreasing the quality of life of those who work and live in and around
them.
Plastics
Polymers, or plastics, are (largely) a product of the petrochemical industry.
There are two basic types of plastic: thermoset, and thermoplastic.
Thermosets are formed by cross-linking of molecules, and cannot be reused.
Thermoplastics are held together by Van der Walls forces, resulting in a
molecular structure can be reformed with heat. Both of them, in most cases,
are derived from oil—and both are present the Tomahawk missile. Oil is
drilled in regions around the world, though the primary sources are currently
in the Middle East. Once again, the US is the largest importer of this
resource. The impacts of the extraction/usage of this resource have been
stated elsewhere, but it is enough to say that the terms that govern its
access and usage are troublesome, to say the least. Oddly enough, the
Tomahawk plays a substantive role in the maintenance of this access, but
more on this later. The use and extraction of oil has led to war, climate
change, ecological upheaval, and political corruption. The affects it has had
on indigenous (and non-indigenous) populations is incalculable. Additionally,
the impact of plastic on landfills, and the toxicity of plastic production in
terms of emissions is substantial.
Ceramic Compounds
The ceramic compounds used in the Tomahawk can be classified as
“advanced” or engineered ceramics. Typical advanced ceramic compounds
are alumina (in this form a suspected neurotoxicant), zirconia and silicon
carbide. Ceramics in general have been in use since the Neolithic Age
(about 10,000 years ago), and can generally be defined as hard, brittle
compounds that have a high melting temperature and are chemically inert.
They are typically formed from silica, alumina, and magnesia. The ceramic
compounds in the Tomahawk are likely in use in the electronics (as
semiconductor and resistor material, as well as insulation) and in engine
components (as an insulator to control heat from the solid fuel combustion).
The minerals that make up these compounds are generally available
without mining, and are some of the more abundant in the world,
nevertheless, they are still problematic in that they often include toxic
compounding agents
Solid Propellant
The fuel source of the Tomahawk is a solid propellant. Without going
into excessive detail, a solid fuel propellant intended for use in a
turbofan engine is made up of nitrogen, some powdered metal,
crystalline oxidizer, and a polymer binding agent. The specific formula
for the Tomahawk is classified, but it should contain at least the
ingredients listed above. Chances are, there is also an explosive to
increase thrust.

…and then there‟s the payload (the bomb), the possible inclusion of
depleted uranium (DU), and the guidance system (both on the missile
itself and on the ground). I will cover the first two in the section on
usage. The guidance system will be discussed briefly in explaining
how the device works.
The preceding slides show cutaway views of the Tomahawk to illustrate the
sophisticated technology at work in the makeup of this device. The
Tomahawk is difficult to detect because of its small profile on radar, low-
altitude flight and turbofan engine, which gives off little heat that can be
picked up by infrared detectors.

Additional features that set the

Tomahawk apart from other
missiles in it‟s class are the
guidance system, the propulsion
system, and the distance it is able
to travel. Military officials say that
the next generation missile can be
retargeted during flight and will
even be able to circle above a
battlefield waiting for orders to
attack.
 (top) This image illustrates a launch by
sea from a battleship. Note that the
wings have not yet extruded from the
sides. This missile will be able to travel
up to 1000 miles to it‟s destination.

(below) Another Tomahawk being

launched from a submarine.
How it works
The cruise missile has been described as a revolutionary new weapon, but in concept
and use, the idea has been around for a while. The first cruise missile was the German
V-1, or the “buzz bomb”, used in World War II. After the war, the U.S. and Soviet Union
began steady proliferation of guided missiles, though none approached any real
measure of accuracy until the mid-1970s. It was during this period that work first began
on the SLCM (Sea Launch Cruise Missile) Tomahawk Program.

Cruise missiles are named for the small turbofan engines—similar to those found on
commercial airliners—which they use to “cruise” to their targets. During launch, a solid
propellant rocket fires the Tomahawk to sufficient altitude. The turbofan engine then
takes over for the cruise portion of flight. Cruise missiles are very effective because
they are difficult to detect. They have a small cross-section, and fly at very low altitudes.
Infrared detection is difficult because turbofan engines emit little heat. The sea-
launched missiles are 18.25 feet long. It weighs 2,650 lbs and has a range of 690 miles.

The Tomahawk missile, like all cruise missiles, is essentially a drone—a remote
controlled airplane that explodes on contact. Like a military fighter, it uses a jet engine,
and comes complete with wings and a tail. Cruise missiles form the spearhead of the
US arsenal. There are currently two types of cruise missile in service: the air-launched
AGM-86 and the Tomahawk BGM-109 ship or submarine-launched version. They can
both be fitted with “conventional” payloads or with nuclear warheads.
A guided missile makes
contact with a target at a
testing range in Nevada.
The Shock and Awe, it was called—multiple
explosions in Baghdad earlier today. Some of it
coming from the sea and into the air. Three
hundred sea launch cruise missiles, some subs
and destroyers, part of the strike package. They
rained down from the skies over Iraq, striking
numerous government buildings and
installations. Also taking part, the B-52s. They
made that long trip from Fairfield, England.
Somewhere along the way, they dropped their
air launch cruise missiles making their way to
the targets…

March 21, 2003, MSNBC

 Tomahawk Block III specs

Manufacturer: Raytheon Engine: Turbofan and

Systems solid rocket booster
Length: 20 feet, 6 inches
Diameter: 20.4 inches
Wingspan: 8 feet, 9 inches
Weight: 3,000 pounds with booster
Cost per unit: $600,000*
Range: 1,000 miles
Speed: 550 mph

* Unit cost is relative to the features, the payload, and the

guidance capability. Range is between $600,000 and $1
million USD (Washington Post, ABC News, FAS)
“We do not entertain requests for
academic research assistance.”

Response from the Raytheon Corporation to an email

inquiry about academic research assistance
Raytheon is an international, high technology company
which operates in four businesses: commercial and
defense electronics, engineering and construction,
aviation, and major appliances.

Founded in Cambridge, Mass., in 1922 as the American

Appliance Company, the company adopted the
Raytheon name in 1925. Early expertise was in the field
of radio tubes. During World War II, Raytheon was the
leading producer of radar tubes and complete radar
systems. Following the war, Raytheon became a pioneer
in the field of missile guidance. Raytheon also innovated
guidance missile systems to intercept aircraft and
ballistic missiles. In 1964, Raytheon embarked on a
major diversification program to broaden its business
base by adding commercial operations.
Top Ten Defense Contractors
Fiscal Year 2002:

Lockheed Martin Corp. $17.0 billion

Boeing Co. $16.6 billion
Northrop Grumman Corp. $8.7 billion
Raytheon Co. $7.0 billion
General Dynamics Corp. $7.0 billion
United Technologies Corp. $3.6 billion
Science Applications International Corp. $2.1 billion
TRW Inc. $2.0 billion
Health Net, Inc. $1.7 billion
L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. $1.7 billion
Taken from the Pentagon‟s annual report of defense contractors
http://www.fas.org/asmp/profiles/top10fy02.html
Raytheon Pentagon contracts and rank
among other top defense contracts from
2001-1997 (in billions):

year award rank

2001 $5.6 (4th)
2000 $6.3 (4th)
1999 $6.4 (3rd)
1998 $5.7 (3rd)
1997 $2.9 (5th)

Taken from the Pentagon‟s annual report of defense contractors

http://www.fas.org/asmp/profiles/top10fy02.html
The Raytheon Company has a full time lobbying staff of
nineteen people and has employed at least five outside
lobbying firms, budgeting at least $1.6 million annually for
lobbying. It also belongs to several aerospace industry
lobby groups that put heavily emphasize missile defense.

There are several members of the board with direct links to

the US government, and to NATO (a major client of the US
arms industry). Raytheon also hires former politicians to
advance their causes. For example they hired former
house appropriations committee chair Bob Livingston to
make the case for the National Missile Defense System in
Washington D.C.
Daniel P. Burnham, Chairman and CEO of Raytheon, also serves as
chair of the President‟s National Security Telecommunications Advisory
Committee (NSTAC), and happens to be a member of the Defense Policy
Advisory Committee on Trade (DPACT).

Prior to Robin L. Beard becoming Executive Vice President Business

Development, Chief Executive Officer, Raytheon International, Inc., he
served two terms (1984-1987, 1992-1995) as Assistant Secretary
General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He chaired a
number of high-level bodies, most notably the Conference of National
Armaments Directors, which is the supreme NATO body responsible for
all defense equipment matters. For his NATO efforts he received the U.S.
Department of Defense's highest award for distinguished service from the
defense secretary William Perry. He also serves on the US Egypt
President‟s Council as one of its 15 U.S. members who provide the US
and Egypt with business community views, concerns and council in ways
to expand bilateral trade and investment ties.
Other directors include former CIA director John M. Deutch, former NATO
supreme commander John R. Galvin, and former New Hampshire
Senator Warren B. Rudman.

Sources: Corporate Watch: date viewed: 05/02/03, Raytheon Website: date viewed: 05/02/03
Discrimination against employees

In 1987 California‟s fair employment and housing

commission found Raytheon‟s Goleta, CA plant guilty
of illegal discrimination for firing an employee who had
AIDS. Although a doctor told Raytheon the employee
could return to work without posing a risk to other
employees, corporation managers feared that co-
workers would „catch‟ the AIDS virus. The commission
ordered the corporation to rehire the employee and
pay him $6,000 in back wages. The commission‟s
ruling came too late, however, since by this time the
employee was dead.

Source: Corporate Watch: date viewed: 05/02/03

Incineration

Despite evidence that incineration is the worst option for

destroying the U.S.'s obsolete chemical weapons stockpile at the
Umatilla Army Depot, the Oregon Environmental Quality
Commission (EQC) gave $1.3 to the army and Raytheon to
construct five chemical weapons incinerators. Despite strong
protests, on February 7, 1997, the EQC made its final decision to
accept the United States Army's application to build a chemical
weapons incineration facility near Hermiston, Oregon.
Some examples of the chemicals to be incinerated include nerve
gas and mustard agent; bioaccumulative organochlorines such as
dioxins, furans, chloromethane, vinyl chloride, and PCBs; metals
such as lead, mercury, copper and nickel; and toxins such as
arsenic. These represent only a fraction of the thousands of
chemicals and metals that will potentially be emitted throughout
the Columbia River watershed.

source: Raytheon Watch, date viewed: 04/20/03

Breaking The Law
In May 1999 Reuters reported that Raytheon would pay $3 million to AGES group
and purchase $13 million worth of AGES aircraft parts to settle allegations that a
security firm hired by Raytheon eavesdropped on and stole documents from AGES.
To discourage the proliferation of nuclear weapons the US imposed economic
sanctions against Pakistan for its 1998 nuclear testing. Raytheon attempted to
complete a prohibited sale of satellite communications equipment by channeling the
sale through its Canadian subsidiary.
In Oct 1994 Raytheon co. paid the US government $4 million to settle a claim that
the company inflated a defense contract for anti-missile radar.[61]
In Oct 1993 Raytheon paid $3.7 million to settle allegations that it misled the defense
department by overstating the labor costs involved in manufacturing Patriot missiles.
In March 1990 Raytheon pleaded guilty in a US district court in Virginia to one felony
count of illegally obtaining secret Air Force budget and planning documents. They
were fined $10,000 for „conveyance without authority‟ and $900,000 in civil penalties
and damages.

In Oct 1987 the justice department signed onto a $36 million suit, which alleged that
Raytheon submitted false claims for work done on missiles. The government
eventually closed the case citing lack of evidence.

Source: Raytheon Watch, date viewed: 04/20/03

…Every weekday for the past 50 years, from eight o’clock in the
morning to eleven o’clock at night, U.S. fighter planes in Korea have
dropped 400 to 700 bombs on the Koon-ni range less than one mile
from local villages. The targets for the bombs are islands in the
beautiful Aia bay where the people derive their livelihoods by fishing.
As the A10 and F-16 U.S. fighter aircrafts swoop over the countryside,
they drop depleted uranium (DU) shells. The DU shells add radioactive
contamination to the other toxic wastes and oil that have been
accumulating near these villages for the last half century.

Lockheed-Martin now owns the Koon-ni range.

This kind of privatization of the military comes as
no surprise because 50 years of dropping bombs
and spraying bullets has been very lucrative for
arms manufacturers.

Source: Karen Talbot “U.S. Bombing Range in South Korea: "Hell On Earth!”.
New York Times, 6/18/00 p.6
On May 8, 2000, a U.S. Air Force A-10 warthog bomber dropped six 500 pound
bombs on the village of Maehyang-ri in South Korea. Villagers there claim that
seven people were injured and some 170 houses damaged by the bombs. Military
officials say the A-10 was experiencing engine trouble and dropped the bombs as an
emergency measure to reduce its weight.
The village where this bombing took place is near the Koon-ni Range where the
U.S. has performed military exercises since 1955. And it is not the first time this has
happened. Villagers say the 5,000-acre range is the cause of numerous deaths and
injuries. They say at least nine people have died in accidents linked to the range,
including a pregnant woman killed when a practice bomb hit her in 1967 and four
children killed the following year when they tinkered with an unexploded bomb. In
1994, they say, roofs caved in and walls cracked in 100 houses when range workers
accidentally detonated bombs. Additionally, they say they suffer from constant
exhaust fumes, tremors and extreme noise caused by strafing and
bombing exercises since the 1950s.

source: http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/demnow/dn20000531.html
…Halfway across the world in a coastal South Korean farming village named Maehyang-ri, about 50 miles south of
Seoul, similar practices have been happening for the past 50 years. U.S. fighter planes drop 400 to 700 bombs
each day at targets less than a mile out to sea. At the Koon-ri range, now owned by private defense company
Lockheed-Martin, bombs are dropped from morning until 11:00 at night.
Just like Vieques, the people of Maehyang-ri complain of high rates of infant mortality and other illnesses. Yoomi
Jeong, deputy secretary of the Korea Truth Commission (KTC), an international organization working on U.S.
militarization issues in Korea, said that residents of this village have a much higher suicide rate than the rest of
Korea, because of the dismal situation. Villagers claim that over 10 people have died in accidents linked to the
range. Last May, a plane dropped six 500-pound bombs to lighten its load after losing an engine near the range,
causing damage to some 500 homes and injuries to several people.
The Koon-ri range has been excluded from plans to close and consolidate bases in South Korea starting from next
year, stirring up a great deal of protest.

A large-scale protest was organized

outside of the United States Embassy
last week, during Secretary of State
Colin Powell‟s two-day visit to Seoul.
This followed a rally at Lockheed-
Martin‟s headquarters, where some 30
protestors scuffled with police, shouting,
“Yankee Go Home!”

Source: August 3 - August 9, 2001 Asianweek, Neela Banerjee

For the good part of 50 years most Koreans knew nothing about
Maehyang-ri, but protests have been growing. Hundreds of thousands
of students, farmers and workers have joined together to stand up for
the villagers. Currently, the range is still open for US testing, but in
2001 the range was banned for everything but light bombs. While this
is far from a complete victory,
the sounds of constant shell
fire from aircrafts and heavy
artillery have lessened
somewhat, and activists and
villagers have won an
important struggle.
The recent victory of activists in Vieques, Puerto Rico
(the US military abandoned the bombing range earlier
this month) is another encouraging sign, however it
raises the question of what happens after the bombing
is over. The land is now littered with the remains of
Depleted Uranium rounds, chemical residue from
explosives and propellants, and a large amount of oil
and other chemicals soaked into the earth.