ARMSCOR

ARMSCOR (South African Arms Corporation) is the government weapons manufacturer of South Africa. It played a significant role in the international arms trade, particularly in its dealings with Carlos Cardoen and Gerald Bull, and its involvement in supplying Iraq.¹

In 1979, Carlos Cardoen obtained a brokering license from ARMSCOR after being rejected by Israel. This allowed him to begin his work as an arms producer and broker.¹

ARMSCOR collaborated with Cardoen in selling arms to Iraq. Alan Sanders of ITICO provided technology for cluster bombs to Cardoen, which were then produced with a covert U.S. license.¹

In 1983, ARMSCOR contracted Gerald Bull for his "supergun" artillery project, following an introduction by Mark Thatcher and Gen. Pieter Van Der Westhuizen, chief of South African Defense Force.¹

ARMSCOR was represented at a meeting in Santiago, Chile, in late 1986, where U.S. officials, including Robert Gates, reaffirmed their intention to maintain arms channels to Iraq through South Africa and Chile.¹

In late 1988, Gen. Pieter Van Der Westhuizen informed Ari Ben-Menashe that South Africa had stopped the flow of technology to Iraq, claiming it was due to a decision to resume nuclear cooperation with Israel. However, Israeli intelligence later confirmed that while South Africa was not directly dealing with Iraq, it was involved with Chile, which continued to supply Iraq through the Cardoen network. The CIA reportedly used ARMSCOR to facilitate the transfer of nuclear technology to Iraq.¹