Debate Rages Over Guns Sold to Colombia

Four heavy-caliber machine guns mounted on U.S.-made helicopters used for fighting drugs in Colombia have been malfunctioning for months, throwing the aircraft off-balance and threatening the safety of the Colombian pilots, Clinton administration officials said Thursday.

But whether the problems are attributable to the GAU-19 Gatling guns or the way they were mounted on the helicopters is a matter of fierce debate among the administration, the guns’ manufacturer and Republicans in Congress who pushed for their purchase.

The four guns were bought at a combined cost of $2.1 million to defend Black Hawk helicopters provided to Colombian anti-narcotics police under legislation approved by Congress in 1998.

The GAU-19s are among the weapons the administration is considering buying for 60 more helicopters--a combination of Black Hawks and Hueys--that are included in a new $1.3-billion U.S. aid package for Colombia.

A cable sent to the State Department by the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia’s capital, last month said that the substantial weight of the .50-caliber weapons threw the Black Hawk helicopters off-balance and that the guns’ electrical control systems frequently burned out.

The guns, which fire 2,000 rounds a minute, are among the most powerful of their kind. In Colombia, government helicopters often encounter heavy fire from well-armed leftist guerrillas who at times provide protection for cocaine laboratories and coca fields. The GAU-19’s rapid fire and heavy rounds are thought to be particularly effective in penetrating the dense jungle.

On Thursday, State Department spokesman Philip T. Reeker said the problems experienced with the four guns have not set back the counter-narcotics campaign because the helicopters have been using other weapons while technicians investigate the problems with the GAU-19s.

“We’re working with both the helicopter manufacturer and the manufacturer of this weapon to identify the source of the problems they encountered in operating the weapons on helicopters flown by the Colombian national police,” Reeker said.

On Capitol Hill, staff members to a key House Republican who supported the purchase of the guns blamed the problems on poor installation and training.

“These are the weapons the guys on the ground tell us they need,” said Lester Munson, spokesman for Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.), who chairs the House International Relations Committee. “They’re bigger, they’re heavier, they knock stuff down. The .50-caliber is what you need in the jungle to deter guys from shooting at your chopper.”

Gilman and other House Republicans have long criticized Clinton administration efforts in the South American nation, accusing the State Department of supplying the Colombians with unsafe, outdated equipment.

But aides to lawmakers who opposed the $1.3-billion aid package said the problems with the guns may suggest difficulties to come.

“This news heightens our concern that this policy may be a rush to failure,” said Jim Farrell, spokesman for Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.).

The GAU-19’s manufacturer, General Dynamics, sent a team to Colombia on Saturday to investigate the problems. Company spokesman Kendall Pease said it appears that the guns were mounted improperly by Colombian national police technicians, throwing the helicopters off-balance. He said the technicians also identified problems with the guns’ electrical circuitry and hope to have them resolved soon.

Pease said the Colombian police were provided with 48-year-old ammunition by the U.S. government, causing the guns to jam. He said the GAU-19 system manual advises against using ammunition manufactured before 1993.

The Colombian air force has purchased 31 GAU-19 weapons from General Dynamics since 1996 and has not experienced significant problems with them, Pease said. But the air force acquisition included training, spare parts and technical support.

In the case of the anti-narcotics police, the State Department paid only for the four guns, not additional support, Pease said.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., which manufactured the helicopters, altered them to accommodate the weapons, a spokesman said.