AFTER RECENT reports in London Student on the University of London’s shares in the arms trade, it has emerged that a UCL professor was once managing director for a major arms company and is now director of a consultancy firm with Ministry of Defence contacts.
Keith Robinson, Professor of Integrated Systems in the Civil Engineering department, worked as a UK MD at Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defence contractor, between 1995 and 2001. Lockheed Martin is currently the biggest arms manufacturer in the world and has been the main contractor on some of the most well-known and controversial weapons developments, including the Joint Strike Fighter and the Trident nuclear missile system.
Professor Robinson was involved in the UK government systems division of Lockheed Martin UK, an area of the company which oversaw the development of the Royal Navy’s Merlin helicopter program. The Merlin Mk1 saw its first deployment in the second Gulf War in 2002 and has been used widely by the Navy ever since.
Most alarming, however, is Lockheed Martin’s involvement in weapons of mass destruction, viz, the Trident II missile system. Having successfully negotiated a contract with the Ministry of Defence, Lockheed Martin became the primary contractor for the maintenance of Trident in 2000, a time when Professor Robinson was still working with the company. Although Lockheed Martin has had no major role in developing the actual warhead components of Trident, the company is responsible for maintaining the ballistics and guidance systems at the Aldermaston nuclear research installation.
The controversy surrounding Trident II has once again been stirred with recent speculation as to whether the British government will upgrade the system once it becomes outdated. If so, missiles each carrying up to twelve warheads that are five times as powerful as that dropped upon Hiroshima will remain the standard on British nuclear submarines.
Having worked previously for GEC Marconi, a company with several links to the arms trade, as well as currently heading his own consultancy business, Integrated Systems and Strategies Ltd, Professor Robinson has a prolific career within the defence industry.
The news that UCL has even closer ties to the arms trade than most other universities has alarmed activists campaigning against the arms trade. Ippy of the Aldermaston Women’s Peace Campaign told The Cheese Grater: “Educational establishments should avoid connections with arms companies - either through their investments, their grant funding, or staffing. It is a question of ethics and principles - we should be educating for peace, not war. Lockheed Martin is the biggest arms company in the world and is at the centre of the British nuclear weapons programme; they should be avoided like the plague.”