Aeronautics and Defense

This chapter focuses on corruption in the aeronautics and defense industry. Obviously, defense and security are affected by many different forms of corruption, ranging from petty corruption to evade conscription to hefty bribes to high-ranking commanders in combat situations. Major challenges, however, arise from defense procurement. The high exposure has particular reasons: defense procurement is about huge sums of money. On both sides of the equation are highly concentrated actors: large multinational enterprises and governments. The technical details of the requirements are complex; the legal details of contracts are confusing. They usually have a long life span, typically longer than that of a government. Government officials and military officers dispose of a large leeway of discretion, and these contracts are frequently covered by a cloak of secrecy given national security considerations. Sometimes procurement rules are circumvented by government-to-government contracts. The already complex contracts are typically further confused through offset agreements.