[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.

                          ____________________