We now know of another military contractor in the Grand Rapids area that is supplying military equipment for Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza

Ever since the Hamas attack on October 7th and the ongoing and vicious Israeli retaliation, activists have been exposing US weapons manufacturers and then resisting their role in manufacturing military equipment and weapons being used in Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.

GRIID has posted several articles about the Israeli company Plasan North America, which has a manufacturing facility in Walker. In late December I posted a pieced based on information from an American Friends Service Committee report, which documents how many US-based military contractors have been providing weapons and military vehicles for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Now, we have another resource that has been tracking US military contractors that are making weapons military equipment specifically for Israel, military equipment that is being used currently in Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza. 

In a recent post on Truthout, we learned that there is a new activists map, a map which shows the location of military contractors across the US, even in Michigan. If you click on the map, you can see that the activist created map shows two locations of military contractors that are making weapons and military equipment for the Israeli Defense Forces. One factory is located in Novi, Michigan, while the other facility in near the Gerald R. Ford Airport, on Patterson Ave.

According to the map’s information: 

GE Aviation Systems, a Boeing subcontractor is a part of a $927,492,124 contract to provide KC-46A Pegasus aircraft for the state of Israel and its military. The contract was announced on August 31, 2022 and the work associated with this contract is estimated to be completed by December 2026.

So, the GE Aviations Systems, located at  3290 Patterson Ave SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, has a current contract to manufacture KC-46A Pegasus aircraft for the Israeli military. The information from the activist map also includes two additional links. In the first link, it states in part: “The Boeing Co., Defense, Space & Security, Seattle, Washington, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $927,492,124 undefinitized contract action for four KC-46A aircraft for Israel. This contract is also issued for the non-recurring engineering design and test for the Remote Vision System 2.0 and the Air Refueling Operator Station 2.0 mission equipment and installation, pre-delivery integrated logistics support, and technical publications. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2026.”

The second link confirms the contract, but it primarily data-driven, with no narrative about the contract. However, I did find an additional bit of information about the KC-46A Pegasus, which states, “the KC-46A is delivering fuel, data, and multi-mission capability around the globe. It’s been proven in combat and provides millions of pounds of fuel each month to U.S. and allied receivers.” 

The bottom line is that there is yet another military contractor in the Grand Rapids area that is assisting in the manufacturing of the KC-46A Pegasus planes, which provides in air refueling for Israeli military planes that have been carpet bombing Gaza since early October of 2023. And while the contract at the GE Aviations Systems plant on Patterson Ave. is for weapons, but it is for military equipment that is being used to support the Israeli military’s genocidal campaign be wage in Gaza at this very moment.