France’s submarine sales firm DCNS is notorious for corruption

“DCNS’s operations face questions across almost the entire globe, including in Pakistan, Malaysia, India, Saudi Arabia and Chile, with bribes and kickbacks reportedly comprising 8 per cent to 12 per cent of DCNS’s entire budget.”

French subs builder’s record of corruption, The Saturday Paper, HAMISH MCDONALD, 30 Apr 16 “…….The Defence Department has been dazzled by promises from shipbuilder DCNS of ultra-quiet pulse-jet propulsion, a powerful sonar array from Thales, a comfortable space for the crew, and a very long range. Now all that has to be done is design the new boat, replacing the nuclear reactor in the Barracuda with diesels, batteries and fuel cells, and fitting in fuel tanks.

For the politicians, it’s all about jobs and buckets of money − as much as an extra $20 billion for local production − to retain a few Coalition seats in South Australia. So soon after seeing off the car industry, the Liberal Party dominated by economic “dries” has embraced industrial policy in a big way, in alliance with the Socialists of President François Hollande……

Somehow, even though the subs will be built in Adelaide, the French defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, also claims the contract as a “major victory for the French naval industry”, which would create thousands of new jobs in France.

Le Drian added that, “We are married to Australia for 50 years” − referring to the lifetime support for the submarines. So we had better be aware of the baggage our new partner brings. Unfortunately the Direction des Constructions et Armes Navales, now partly privatised and named DCNS, is a lady with a shady past,

As the Hong Kong-based website Asia Sentinel has pointed out, “DCNS’s operations face questions across almost the entire globe, including in Pakistan, Malaysia, India, Saudi Arabia and Chile, with bribes and kickbacks reportedly comprising 8 per cent to 12 per cent of DCNS’s entire budget.”

One of the notable scandals was the alleged payment, with approval by the late president François Mitterrand, of $US400 million in bribes to Taiwan’s then ruling Kuomintang in 1991 for the sale of six frigates, with another $US100 million going to the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee to keep Beijing quiet. A more recent scandal, still simmering in Malaysia and France, involves the payment of €114 million in commissions to an associate of then Malaysian defence minister Najib Razak (now prime minister) in 2002 for the $US1.25 billion order of two Scorpène-class submarines for the Malaysian navy.

No doubt our politicians and officials are aware of all this, and will be ready to account for any largesse. Perhaps they should automatically knock off 8 to 12 per cent of any price quoted by DCNS. https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/world/north-america/2016/04/30/french-subs-builders-record-corruption/14619384003178

December 25, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics, politics international, secrets and lies

2 Comments »

When you can’t lie about nuclear, you lie about an entire people. I’m writing this while I’m seeing a balance with the word “ethics” on it… you don’t have any ethics, that’s true. BTW, I’m french and the use of my flag is an offence to me as a citizen and the ideals of France, of the French people, of the French Revolution and the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

PS/ I know that you will not publish the comment. A stalinist would not do it. Or maybe you will do it to challenge my comment, but it will be even more hypocrite.

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Comment by Frenchman | May 16, 2016 | Reply
I am from a French family, speak French, and travel to France periodically. I am a great admirer of France and the French people. And especially of the ideals of France, of the French Revolution, of the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
Of all countries giving foreign aid, France regularly tops the list in generosity.
All the same, as with every country, France has some crooked businessmen, and some politicians who can be bought by corporations. Do I ignore this, just because I love France? NO !

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Comment by Christina MacPherson | May 16, 2016 | Reply

Antinuclear

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