Perth-based Barrett Communications Company said today that they had sold advanced radio sets with model number Barrett 2050 to Burma.
Philip Bradshaw, Managing Director of Barrett Communications Company said to Mizzima, “In 2009, and previously in 2005 and 2006, we sent around 50 radio sets to Burma”.
Although Bradshaw said that they could not disclose the commercially confidential facts, he denied the media report which stated they were for military use. He clarified that his company sold only commercial radios.
“Our company never sold any military equipment to the Burmese regime and never will”, Bradshaw said. He further noted that Australian companies cannot sell military equipment to the Burmese Army as there are sanctions imposed on Burma.
The Sydney Morning Herald online edition reported yesterday that Barrett Communications contacted the Burmese Army and had sold advanced radio wireless sets to Burma over the past few months.
A military expert on Burma told Mizzima on condition of anonymity, “It is possible that the junta has bought this equipment. Even though they were sold to merchants for commercial use, they can still reach the Burmese Army. The Army has a need for them and since it is expensive for them to buy radios for military use, they have bought civilian ones”.
Currently the Burmese Army is using Chinese made TS 2004 transceivers which are originally designed and manufactured for ordinary civilian use, but the junta has modified these radio sets for military purposes, the military expert said.
Professor Desmond Ball of Strategic and Defense Studies Centre of Australia National University (ANU) who investigated the Barrett 2050 radio sets while conducting research on communication system of Burmese Army, was quoted in the online edition of ‘The Australia Sydney’ yesterday as saying, “This answers the question of how the junta has obtained advanced technological equipment. They buy these radio sets through civilian channels as they cannot buy them officially for military use. The Burmese Army badly needs advanced and high-tech equipment”.
