A spokesperson for Iron Maiden has issued a statement denying claims by a blogger that singer Bruce Dickinson’s company, Cardiff Aviation, is involved in manufacturing drones for the U.S. military.
In a piece entitled "Bruce Dickinson: Rock'n'Roll Warmonger," Harry Patersen of the blog Dorset Eye claims the singer’s company has accepted a contract from the U.S. military “to manufacture 'lighter-than-air' drones. The contract is believed to be worth anything up to $500,000,000, according to Conference Speakers International."
A spokesperson for Iron Maiden responded to the story in a written statement to NME, calling the article "spurious", adding, "This is a totally inaccurate and malicious piece of writing that seems to have stemmed from an unfortunate mistake in terminology on a South African website that the writer of said blog has since used as a starting point and catalyst to go off on a flight of sheer fantasy.”
"Both Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden's manager Rod Smallwood were early investors in, and remain great supporters of, Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), a company that has nothing whatsoever to do with drones, 'lighter than air' or otherwise!”
"As with many far-sighted technological advances,” the statement continued, “early adopters and financial supporters tend to be military-based as they have the resources to invest and develop, be that everything from space-travel to medicine. Possible military use of HAVs in future could be for heavy-lifting, transportation or high altitude detection of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), or similar, thus saving lives, both military and civilian. Rather than being involved in attacks in the Third World, as this writer has claimed in such an erroneously dramatic and defamatory manner, HAVs are designed to offer much needed assistance to civilians, businesses and governments that would be unavailable otherwise, due to the unique nature of these incredible vehicles."
This week, Iron Maiden wrap up a short-run of US dates on their “Maiden England” tour before playing Latin American stadiums and the Rock In Rio festival in September.
Iron Maiden will finish the tour off with a return to the Estadio Nacional in Chile on October 2.
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