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DIY cruise missile attracts defence offers
A New Zealand engineer who made world headlines with his home-built cruise missile says he has received "very serious" offers from an Iranian company to invest in the project. Bruce Simpson said the firm was linked to the aerospace and missile industries and was one of a number of inquiries from several countries including Pakistan, China and Lebanon. After "worrying about the bigger picture" and turning down the offers, the cash-strapped engineer found himself bankrupted by the Inland Revenue Department for non-payment of taxes.The Iranians made "very serious inquiries about investing in the development of the X-jet technology," Mr Simpson said on his website, aardvark.co.nz. "I have since had emails from Pakistan, Lebanon, China and other countries, all of which sought to obtain details of the X-jet project and some of which have involved seemingly genuine offers of not insignificant payment for such information." Mr Simpson said he contacted the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service who advised it was "certainly not sensible" to export such technology. Instead he signed a heads of agreement with a United States firm that would have set up a research and development plant in Waikato. The deal was scuttled last Monday when he was bankrupted. A bitter Mr Simpson says Inland Revenue was stupid to quash a deal that would have reaped cash "hundreds of times the value of the outstanding debt". The 49-year-old engineer, website developer and software technician worked within a budget of $US5,000 to build his do-it-yourself cruise missile. The X-Jet is similar to the pulse-jets that powered Germanyâs V-1 missiles in World War Two and the GPS guided missile has a range of 160 kilometres, with a 10-kilogram warhead. Mr Simpson said he acquired most of the parts from the online auction house eBay, including a GPS system purchased for $US120 that "was delivered by international airmail in less than a week and passed through customs without any problems". The missile was no longer in his possession and its whereabouts would be kept secret "until an appropriate time", he said. BTW, any Rantburgers who feel like building their own cruise missile can purchase plans through Mr. Simpsonâs website aardvark.com.nz Posted by: phil_b 2003-12-06 |
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