ADELAIDE DEFENCE CONTRACTORS IN
US "SMALL BUSINESS" SCAM PROBE

US Defence Corporations are disguising themselves to manipulate US Legislation, according to a US Survey.

Defense Industry Daily reports that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has ordered the U.S. Small Business Administration (USSBA) to release to the American Small Business League (ASBL) a draft report on the awarding of government contracts. The SBA report describes how large companies are improperly winning contracts in the Federal government's $60-plus billion small business contracting program.

The Small Business Act of 1953 directs that at least 23% of federal government prime contracts go to small business, but a host of abuses and loopholes have allowed large companies to pick up contracts in this category. The SBA released an edited version of the report on December 28, 2004, acknowledging that small business contracts had gone to such "small businesses" as Raytheon Co., BAE Systems, Northrop Grumann Corp., Carlyle Group, Electronic Data Systems Corp., Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., and Buhrmann NV.

Raytheon, BAE, Northrop Grunman and Carlyle are involved in South Australian based Missile Shield and Unmanned Air Vehicle Projects. EDS has a major headquarters in Adelaide.