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Isenberg Video
- Here and There with Dave Marash, February 3, 2015
- Sep. 2, 2014 Al Jazeera English segment on Blackwater trial - Comment by David Isenberg
- Jan 2, 2010, Al Jazzeera (English), re Judge Urbina’s dismissal of charges against Blackwater contractors
- June 28, 2010. heard in “Controversy over CIA Blackwater contract,” The World
- August 17, 2010, on C-Span III, speaks on private military contracting
- Examining the role of the military contractor
- Has the Privatization of National Security Gone Too Far? The Future of Military Contracting, November 14, 2008, 9:30-11:00am, New America Foundation
- David Isenberg on PressTV - US contractor with poor ratings hired again
- Outsourcing War and Peace – Video
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- David Isenberg on Former student blasts military school for private defense contractors
Tag Archives: Companies
Wagner Group: Russian mercenary group
PMC (private military company) Wagner was created as a legal entity in Russia in December 2022, but the mercenary group’s activities predate its official founding by nearly a decade. Because Wagner has spent most of its existence in a gray area of plausible deniability, its origins and organizational structure are, by design, murky. The most credible account of the group’s creation involves Dmitry Utkin, a former GRU and Spetsnaz officer, and a short-lived mercenary company called the Slavonic Corps. The Slavonic Corps was formed in 2013 to provide support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian Civil War, but the unit was routed in its first engagement, a clash with fighters from the Islamic State (ISIL) outside Homs in October 2013. In early 2014 Utkin became associated with a GRU-backed mercenary company that drew at least part of its membership from the Slavonic Corps, and its name—Wagner—was reportedly derived from Utkin’s former radio call sign. Continue reading
Ossoff calls for answers from private military housing developer, continues investigations
“I have heard concerns from my constituents that Balfour Beatty Communities (BBC) is not preparing units in the time necessary for an incoming family to be able to move into upon their permanent change of station (PCS),” Sen. Ossoff reportedly wrote to CEO Jennifer Hill. “Servicemembers and their families give the greatest sacrifice for our Nation; we must ensure that we provide for them at home.” Continue reading
Posted in Companies, Outsourcing/Privatization
Tagged Companies, Outsourcing/Privatization
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Criminal links of South Africa’s private security companies also require scrutiny
Whether for good reasons or bad, many South Africans have been thrust into public prominence by appearing before the Madlanga Commission or Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee inquiries into political interference, and crime and corruption in the police and criminal justice system. Perhaps the most infamous of these is tender tycoon and criminal suspect Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala. Continue reading
Oklahoma Voice: Military contractor aircraft surveil Arizona’s southern border for undisclosed mission
Military contractor aircraft equipped with high-end surveillance gear has been flying along the United States southern border above Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for months. The Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security won’t elaborate on what the aircraft are doing. Continue reading
Blackwater founder Erik Prince creates air defence venture with Kyiv
Erik Prince, the founder of the private military contractor Blackwater—which operates today under the name Academi—has established a new enterprise, Vectus Air Defense Systems, that applies a paid subscription model to its air defence systems.
According to a report by the Financial Times (FT), the new company will operate on an “air defence as a service” principle based on software subscriptions. Under multi-year contracts, it will design, install, and maintain multi-layered air defence systems.
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PRIVATE EQUITY & THE PMSC INDUSTRY: From Guards-for-Hire to Integrated Military Capability Platforms, 1990–2050
The private military and security contracting (PMSC) industry is no longer well described as a market for armed guards. Its contemporary form spans armed and expeditionary security, military logistics, aviation support, intelligence, cyber operations, training, engineering, and government mission support. Private equity (PE) has been one of the principal forces behind that broadening. Through leveraged buyouts, platform acquisitions, roll-ups, and recapitalizations, PE sponsors have converted what were once relatively narrow contractors into large, diversified government-services enterprises capable of selling states integrated packages of military and security capability.
This report ranks the private-equity firms most consequential to that transformation; examines six portfolio companies — Amentum, Peraton, ManTech, GardaWorld, Allied Universal/G4S, and Constellis — as six distinct models of PE-driven institutionalization; compiles a 50-entry database of PE–PMSC transactions; and projects the industry’s trajectory to 2050. Continue reading
Swarmer, Inc.: A Speculative Stock With A Broken Income Statement
The company produces and sells vendor-agnostic drone-swarm software to drone manufacturers, with a technology that is actually validated, as more than 100,000 combat missions flown on Swarmer OS in Ukraine since 2024.
However, this is where the bullish news end. TTM revenue is $297k, against a market capitalisation of $496M and an EV/Sales multiple of 1,581x (incredibly above the peer median of 21x). The company has no cash generation, with SG&A and share-based compensation expenses dominating the R&D expenses and the whole income statement. The company has no solid governance, with the founder that resigned as a CEO Global with no successor.
There are no fundamentals driving the share price, which should be trading around $5-6 per share. The stock is purely a speculative investment based on the premium a strategic acquirer would pay in a M&A transaction involving Swarmer.
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State health department asks judge to force GEO Group to allow a TB investigation while lawsuit moves ahead
Colorado took another legal step Thursday in its lawsuit against the GEO Group for the company’s failure to comply with a state public health order over a case of tuberculosis at its Aurora immigrant detention facility, confirmed in June. Continue reading
Posted in Companies, Homeland Security, Legal
Tagged Companies, Homeland Security, Legal
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Prison Firm Donated to Trump’s PAC After ICE Gave It $165 Million a Year in Contracts
Prison Firm Donated to Trump’s PAC After ICE Gave It $165 Million a Year in Contracts The GEO Group has profited from the administration’s mass deportation campaign. A subsidiary donated more… You must be logged in to view this content. … Continue reading
Erik Prince Launches “Air Defense As a Service” Startup With Swarmer
Guess who’s back, back again? Erik’s back, tell a friend.That’s right, folks. Erik Prince is back like he never left. This morning, the completely uncontroversial mercenary launched his latest venture, coming out of stealth with a new startup called Vectus that’s pitching a unique “air defense as a service” model. Continue reading