#DisarmDerco Campaign

Derco Aerospace: A vital link in a chain of genocide.

Who is Derco?

Derco Aerospace is a Milwaukee based aerospace company and subsidiary of defense contractor, Lockheed Martin, after being acquired in 2015. The Milwaukee location is their one and only location. Derco handles distribution and warehousing of aircraft parts and components as well as logistics for both military and commercial customers. Derco also has a repair center where they repair and overhaul OEM aircraft components.

In their own words: “Derco supports global military efforts in 65 countries and maintains one of the largest and most diversified aircraft spares inventories in the world including more than 20,000 unique parts in stock.” 

The Facilities

Derco’s connection to Israel?

As seen in the timeline below Derco has a long history of profiting off of death and destruction through relationships with Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin, Collins Aerospace, and Pratt and Whitney. What’s important is their most recent distribution agreement with Raytheon subsidiary, Pratt and Whitney.

In September of 2020 Derco signed a distribution agreement with Pratt and Whitney to become the SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR of the F100-PW-220/229 engine system which powers the F-16 fighter jet.

Why does it matter that Derco is the only distributor of the F100 engine system for Pratt and Whitney? In December of 2015, Pratt and Whitney signed a contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defense to provide complete maintenance of the Israeli Air Force’s entire fleet of F-15’s and F-16’s for the next 15 years (there are 5 years left of this contract still). This maintenance includes: “material forecasting, item repair management and provisioning of operational, intermediate and depot-level spare parts for the IAF's full fleet of F100-PW-229 engines.”

What does this connection mean?

In short, Derco handles ALL distribution of F100 engine system components which Pratt and Whitney uses to maintain Israeli F16’s.

It is important to specify that Derco does not manufacture the F100’s, they receive and keep their parts stocked and handle distribution to Israel.

Derco warehouses all of these engine system components right here at their facility here in Milwaukee. 

The F16 Fighter Jet AKA “The Widowmaker”

The Israeli Air Force maintains the 2nd largest fleet of F16’s in the world behind the U.S. with approximately 362 F16’s in the Israeli fleet.

The F16 is a multi-role fighter jet that can be customized for a variety of different needs and is crucial in Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign against Palestinians.

“The workhorse of the Gaza bombing campaign is the F-16, an old and proven aeroplane. Israel built a modified version of the fighter jet to suit its tactics with a second crew member whose main task is to control precision weapons.” Al Jazeera also reports that these jets are experiencing excessive wear and tear due to the bombing campaign of Gaza which in turn means that they are requiring increased maintenance and parts which we know that Derco is supplying. This makes Derco, quite literally, the lifeline of the Israeli Air Force.

The F16 also helps Israel maintain military supremacy in the region and allows them to bomb countries typically outside the range of drones.

Notables

Derco’s parent company, Lockheed Martin, has an extremely strong relationship with Israel and is proud of it.

Pratt and Whitney just signed a deal to maintain Saudi Arabia’s F15s, which use the same F100 engines. Thus Derco will be the one supplying the engines for them. Saudi Arabia is known for its genocidal campaign it waged against the Yemeni people at the behest of the U.S. Who knows how many genocidal regimes that Derco is supporting?