Airscan
AirScan is a Florida Based[1] airborne security and surveilence company based in the United States. The company was founded in 1989 by two retired United States military officers[2]. Airscan are one of the few private operators of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the world[3]. Airscan has a fleet of drones and Cessna 337 aircraft equipped with infrared and radar gear[4]. One of the founders of Airscan is John Mansur, a former executive in Bechtel's aeronautics division[5].
Airscan has several regularly renewed US government contracts including the protection of the area around Cape Canaveral, monitoring certain parts of the United States-Mexican border and detecting cocaine fields in Colombia as part of the U.S. fight against the drugs trade. The firm also works extensively for the oil industry. Ever since 1993 it has been protecting ChevronTexaco's facilities in the Cabinda enclave of Angola. It also has a contract to conduct surveillance on the Cano Limon pipeline in Colombia[6].
Contents
Angola
Airscan had a contract to watch over Chevron's facilities in Cabinda, Angola[7].
Canada
Canadian mining firms have worked with Airscan[8].
Colombia
According to Eric Watkins of the Oil & Gas Journal:
- "In 2003, Alberto Galvis sought punitive damages from Occidental Petroleum for the deaths of his mother, a sister, and a cousin, who were among 18 civilians killed when a Colombian military helicopter dropped a bomb on a village near the Cano Limon Pipeline in an antiguerrilla operation.
- Occidental was named in the lawsuit because pilots of AirScan (a security firm Occidental used to protect its oil interests) mapped targets for the Colombian military.
- Occidental Petroleum denied any responsibility either for the bombing or for the deaths of the civilians"[9]
According to a report in Politics and Government Week:
- "According to the LA Times, a security firm hired by Occidental to monitor guerrilla movements (another U.S. company known as AirScan) provided coordinates to Colombian military pilots when they dropped cluster bombs on Santo Domingo, a village near one of the company's pipelines. Seventeen civilians, including seven children, died in the attack"[10].
The Gazette commented on the court ruling:
- "A regional court has ordered the Colombian government to pay $725,000 U.S. to villagers who survived a 1998 cluster-bomb attack by the military".
Before going on to say:
- "Members of the helicopter's crew have said they were fed incorrect co-ordinates by Americans in a surveillance plane operated by AirScan, a security contractor. AirScan has denied an involvement in the attack. A government official said an appeal to the ruling had been filed"[11].
Iraq
Airscan were subcontracted by Erinys International to provide night time aerial surveillence of Iraqi oil pipelines, according to Energy Compass:
- "Erinys was the major security provider, but subcontracted some work to Security Application of Indiana, while Florida's AirScan provided night air surveillance"[12].
Airscan are contracted for night surveillence of the two main pipelines in Iraq, Kirkuk-Amman and Kirkuk-Ceyhan[13].
In September 2008 Airscan were awarded a further $165 million contract by the US Army for surveillance support services in Iraq[14].
Affiliations
Occidental Pertroleum | Erinys International
Notes
- ↑ Pamela Hess, Iraq oil attacked 196 times since war, UPI, 20-January-2005, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ About Airscan, About Us, AirScan.com, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ Spotlight, Private Security for Pipelines?, Africa Energy Intelligence, 17-November-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND LOBBYING/FIRMS; N. 469, Airscan in Iraq, Intelligence Online, 30-January-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009 via Nexis UK
- ↑ BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND LOBBYING/FIRMS; N. 469, Airscan in Iraq, Intelligence Online, 30-January-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009 via Nexis UK
- ↑ BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND LOBBYING/FIRMS; N. 469, Airscan in Iraq, Intelligence Online, 30-January-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009 via Nexis UK
- ↑ Spotlight, Private Security for Pipelines?, Africa Energy Intelligence, 17-November-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ David Pugliese, Soldiers of fortune: In the lawless reality of much of the post-Cold War world, private security is a booming business. And Canada, once noted for peacekeeping, is emerging as a source of talented guns for hire, Ottawa Citizen, 12-November-2005, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ Eric Watkins, The extravagant allegation club, Oil & Gas Journal, 10-August-2009, Accessed 08-December-2009 via Nexis UK
- ↑ Expanded Reporting, Steelworkers Join Los Angeles Activists in Demanding Occidental Petroleum Stop its Complicity of Human Rights Abuses in Colombia, Politics & Government Week, 4-August-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009 via Nexis UK
- ↑ Ruth Morris, Colombia must pay bombed villagers: court, The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec), 27-May-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ Feature Stories, Iraq: Guarding the oil, Energy Compass, 17-December-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND LOBBYING/FIRMS; N. 469, Airscan in Iraq, Intelligence Online, 30-January-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009 via Nexis UK
- ↑ US Fed News, U.S. Army Awards $165 Million Contract to AirScan for Surveillance Support, US Fed News, 13-September-2008, Accessed 08-Decmber-2009 via Nexis UK
