Protesters organized by a Colorado State University group staged a “die-in” demonstration over the weekend outside a Fort Collins company. They chanted, held signs accusing the company of having blood on its hands, and displayed fake body bags and red-stained dolls, according to a report by CSU’s student newspaper.
What was behind the protest?
Demonstrators were motivated by purported connections between the company, Woodward, and a component of a bomb dropped by Israel on a camp in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, in late May.
The Denver Post looked into the connections to the Fort Collins-headquartered aerospace and industrial manufacturer. In addition to a number of other products, Woodward produces components used in bombs, including a system that steers small diameter bombs, also known as SDBs, and other prominent munitions. The company reported $2.3 billion in sales across its business last year and has operations in several states and countries.
What happened in Rafah?
On May 26, the Israeli military dropped what munitions experts later identified as an SDB GBU-39 on a civilian-packed tent camp in Rafah. The explosion and resulting fire killed as many as 50 people and injured scores more. Gruesome images of the dead, including children, spread on social media, and the attack drew international condemnation.
Israel has said it was targeting two Hamas leaders as part of its ongoing war with the terrorist group that has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians. It was sparked in October by Hamas’ attacks on Israeli soil.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later called the Rafah strike “a tragic mistake.”
On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that the Israeli military bombed a United Nations school in central Gaza, killing 40 people and injuring 74 more. Munitions experts confirmed to the newspaper that the bombs used were GBU-39s, the same used on the Rafah tent camp.
What was Woodward’s connection?
The Rafah bomb itself was made by Boeing. While the exact provenance of the munition is unclear, the United States supplied Israel with GBU-39 bombs in 2023 and again this year, according to media reports, because they’re believed to be more precise.
Debris gathered at the scene in Rafah included a piece of metal with two numbers printed on it. One was a commercial and government entity (CAGE) code — essentially an identifier for that component’s manufacturer. Government records show that manufacturer was Woodward.
The component likely was a tail actuation system, which is used to steer the bomb to its target, experts said.
Where was the component made?
The company has three plants and two test facilities in Colorado, according to its website. But the tail actuation system on the Rafah bomb wasn’t made here, according to records, details from the company’s website and the assessment of two experts who reviewed available records for The Denver Post.
The component was made at a Woodward facility in Santa Clarita, California, according to those records and interviews. The Post spoke with Colby Badhwar, a writer and defense procurement analyst, and John Ridge, an open-source intelligence analyst.
What do protesters say?
It is Woodward’s ties to the bombs used in Gaza that have sparked protests here in Colorado, including by the CSU Students for Justice in Palestine; the group did not return a message seeking comment. Protesters, who also demonstrated against the company in November, carried signs last weekend accusing Woodward of aiding Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. Similar demonstrations have taken place at other Woodward facilities in the U.S.
Previous financial reports for Woodward list the SDB and other munitions as driving “significant sales” for the company in the past. Woodward has received millions of dollars’ worth of contracts from the U.S. government, while also subcontracting out for other companies. One of Woodward’s biggest customers is Boeing, according to financial records.
What is Woodward’s response?
A message sent to the company this week was not returned. In November, after an earlier protest in Fort Collins, a Woodward spokesperson told the Coloradoan newspaper that “a small portion of our business involves indirectly supplying the U.S. government with subsystems that go into military equipment.”
“While we are not involved in policy decisions regarding the use of defense equipment containing our products, we remain committed to serving all of our customers,” the spokesperson said.
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