Government asks Rakon to clear weapons-use products

Rakon said none of its products were developed for use in nuclear arms.

The Government has asked technology company Rakon to inform it if it develops or exports any new products which may have military uses, documents released under the Official Information Act indicate.

Rakon, which has provided a key component of smart bombs for the past 10 years, has not declared any of its products for assessment and the Government was unaware it had developed G-hardened crystal oscillators or had explored producing "radiation-hardened" or "nuclear-hardened" products for Rockwell Collins, a supplier of weapons guidance systems for the United States.

The Government asked Rakon about its products after the New Zealand Herald reported that Rakon had knowingly provided key components of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) smart bombs since 1996, was developing a component for a system to turn dumb shells into smart shells, and was looking into developing a component for the US nuclear defence programme.

The Government has concluded that, "based on information Rakon provided", the crystal oscillators it exported were not covered by the Strategic Goods List of controlled products.

Rakon issued a press release last August claiming it did not know the end use of its products despite having knowingly contributed the crystal oscillator used in JDAM smart bombs since 1996.

The company said in May that none of its products were being designed or manufactured for use in nuclear weapons.

Under current export regulations, manufacturers can export components designed for weapons-guidance systems without informing the Government so long as the same component can also be used in non-military applications, such as road-making machinery. An exception is components for use in weapons of mass destruction, which would be unlikely to be given export clearance.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which administers the list, said it "focused on the nature of the goods, not the development path".

The list includes electronic equipment "specially designed" for military use but an item only needs to be declared under this category "if it has no other function or use".

Rakon's crystal oscillators used in the guidance system of smart bombs have many non military applications, likewise a crystal oscillator developed with funding from Rockwell Collins for use in smart shells.

Rakon has told the Government that although it has developed a "G-hardened" product it is not supplying it for military use but is supplying it for use on bulldozers.

This is one of two Rakon products for which munitions guidance systems manufacturer Rockwell Collins contributed "hundreds of thousands of dollars" of development funds, according to internal Rakon documents seen by the Herald.

Another item referred to in Rakon's documents as "radiation hardened" and "nuclear hardened" did not get beyond feasibility stage, Rakon has told the Government.

According to Rakon documents, the Auckland company was asked by Rockwell Collins to make a prototype of this product and to deliver 220 by last February. Documents related to this item included pricing discussions and an indication that Rockwell Collins wanted 4000 per year from 2009.

Specifications required it to function correctly from a maximum depth of 135 metres to a height of 24,000 metres, which might indicate they were intended for smart weapons to be stored in silos.