[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 50 (Monday, April 4, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1637-S1638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ARMS SALES NOTIFICATION
Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control
Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain
proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification,
the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be
reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the
notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant
information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to
have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received.
If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is
available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations
Committee, room SD-423.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Defense Security
Cooperation Agency,
Arlington, VA.
Hon. Bob Corker,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: Pursuant to the reporting requirements
of Section 36(b)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act, as
amended, we are forwarding herewith Transmittal No. 16-26,
concerning the Department of the Navy's proposed Letter(s) of
Offer and Acceptance to the United Kingdom for defense
articles and services estimated to cost $3.2 billion. After
this letter is delivered to your office, we plan to issue a
news release to notify the public of this proposed sale.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Zakriski,
(for J. W. Rixey, Vice Admiral, USN, Director).
Enclosures.
Transmittal No. 16-26
Notice of Proposed Issuance of Letter of Offer Pursuant to
Section 36(b)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act, as
amended
(i) Prospective Purchaser: United Kingdom.
(ii) Total Estimated Value:
Major Defense Equipment * $1.8 billion.
Other $1.4 billion.
Total $3.2 billion.
(iii) Description and Quantity or Quantities of Articles or
Services under Consideration for Purchase:
Major Defense Equipment (MDE).
Nine (9) P-8A Patrol Aircraft, which include: Tactical Open
Mission Software (TOMS), Electro-Optical (EO) and Infrared
(IR) MX-20HD, AN/AAQ-2(V)1 Acoustic System, AN/APY-10 Radar,
ALQ-240 Electronic Support Measures (ESM).
Twelve (12) Multifunctional Informational Distribution
System (MIDS) Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS).
Twelve (12) Guardian Laser Transmitter Assemblies (GLTA)
for AN/AAQ-24(V)N.
Twelve (12) System Processors for AN/AAQ-24(V)N.
Twelve (12) Missile Warning Sensors for AN/AAR-54 (for AN/
AAQ-24(V)N).
Nine (9) LN-251 with Embedded Global Positioning Systems/
Inertial Navigation System (EGI).
Non-Major Defense Equipment (Non-MDE): Associated training,
training devices, and support.
(iv) Military Department: U.S. Navy (SAN, Basic Aircraft
Procurement Case; LVK, Basic Training Devices Case; TGO,
Basic Training Case).
(v) Prior Related Cases, if any: UK-P-FBF, total case value
$5.6M, implemented January 27, 2015.
(vi) Sales Commission, Fee. etc., Paid, Offered, or Agreed
to be Paid: None.
(vii) Sensitivity of Technology Contained in the Defense
Article or Defense Services Proposed to be Sold: See attached
Annex.
(viii) Date Report Delivered to Congress: March 24, 2016.
*As defined in Section 47(6) of the Arms Export Control
Act.
POLICY JUSTIFICATION
United Kingdom--P-8A Aircraft and Associated Support
The Government of the United Kingdom (UK) has requested
notification for the possible procurement of up to nine (9)
P-8A Patrol Aircraft, associated major defense equipment,
associated training, and support. The estimated cost is $3.2
billion.
The UK is a close ally and an important partner on critical
foreign policy and defense issues. The proposed sale will
enhance U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives
by enhancing the UK's capabilities to provide national
defense and contribute to NATO and coalition operations.
The proposed sale will allow the UK to reestablish its
Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) capability that it
divested when it cancelled the Nimrod MRA4 Maritime Patrol
Aircraft (MPA) program. The United Kingdom has retained core
skills in maritime patrol and reconnaissance following the
retirement of the Nimrod aircraft through Personnel Exchange
Programs (PEPs). The MSA has remained the United Kingdom's
highest priority unfunded requirement. The P-8A aircraft
would fulfill this requirement. The UK will have no
difficulty absorbing these aircraft into its armed forces.
The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not
alter the basic military balance in the region.
The prime contractor involved in this sale is The Boeing
Company, Seattle, WA. Implementation of the proposed sale
will require approximately sixty-four (64) personnel hired by
Boeing to support the program in the United Kingdom.
Additional contractors include:
ViaSat, Carlsbad, CA.
GC Micro, Petaluma, CA.
Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, IA.
Spirit Aero, Wichita, KS.
Raytheon, Waltham, MA.
Telephonics, Farmingdale, NY.
Pole Zero, Cincinnati, OH.
Northrop Grumman Corp, Falls Church, VA.
Exelis, McLean, VA.
Terma, Arlington, VA.
Symmetrics, Canada.
Arnprior Aerospace, Canada.
General Electric, UK.
Martin Baker, UK.
There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection
with this potential sale.
There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness
as a result of this proposed sale.
Transmittal No. 16-26
Notice of Proposed Issuance of Letter of Offer Pursuant to
Section 36(b)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act, as
amended
Annex Item No. vii
(vii) Sensitivity of Technology:
1. The P-8A aircraft is a militarized version of the Boeing
737-800 Next Generation (NG) commercial aircraft. The P-8A is
replacing the P-3C as the Navy's long-range anti-submarine
warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW), intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft capable of
broad-area, maritime and littoral operations.
2. P-8A mission systems include:
(a) Tactical Open Mission Software (TOMS). TOMS functions
include environment planning tactical aids, weapons planning
aids, and data correlation. TOMS includes an algorithm for
track fusion which automatically correlates tracks produced
by on-board and off-board sensors.
(b) Electro-Optical (EO) and Infrared (IR) MX-20HD. The EO/
IR system processes visible EO and IR spectrum to detect and
image objects.
(c) AN/AAQ-2(V)1 Acoustic System. The Acoustic sensor
system is integrated within the mission system as the primary
sensor for the aircraft ASW missions. The system has multi-
static active coherent (MAC) 64 sonobuoy processing
capability and acoustic sensor prediction tools.
(d) AN/APY-10 Radar. The aircraft radar is a direct
derivative of the legacy AN/APS-137(V) installed in the P-3C.
The radar capabilities include Global Positioning System
(GPS), selective availability anti-spoofing, Synthetic
Aperture Radar (SAR), and Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar
(ISAR) imagery resolutions, and periscope detection mode.
[[Page S1638]]
(e) ALQ-240 Electronic Support Measures (ESM). This system
provides real time capability for the automatic detection,
location, measurement, and analysis of Radio-Frequency (RF)
signals and modes. Real time results are compared with a
library of known emitters to perform emitter classification
and specific emitter identification (SEI).
(f) Electronic Warfare Self Protection (EWSP). The aircraft
EWSP consists of the ALQ-213 Electronic Warfare Management
System (EWMS). ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispensing System
(CMDS), and the AN/AAQ-24 Directional Infrared
Countermeasures (DIRCM)/AAR-54 Missile Warning Sensors (MWS).
The EWSP includes threat information.
3. If a technologically advanced adversary was to obtain
access to the P-8A specific hardware and software elements,
systems could be reverse engineered to discover U.S. Navy
capabilities and tactics. The consequences of the loss of
this technology, to a technologically advanced or competent
adversary, could result in the development of countermeasures
or equivalent systems, which could reduce system
effectiveness or be used in the development of a system with
similar advance capabilities.
4. A determination has been made that the United Kingdom
can provide substantially the same degree of protection for
the technology being released as the U.S. Government. Support
of the P-8A Patrol Aircraft to the Government of the United
Kingdom is necessary in the furtherance of the U.S. foreign
policy and national security objectives.
5. All defense articles and services listed in this
transmittal have been authorized for release and export to
the United Kingdom.
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