[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 191 (Monday, December 2, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6787]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ARMS SALES NOTIFICATION

  Mr. RISCH. 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. James E. Risch,
     Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: Pursuant to the reporting requirements 
     of Section 36(b)(5)(C) of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), 
     as amended, we are forwarding Transmittal No. 19-0P. This 
     notification relates to enhancements or upgrades from the 
     level of sensitivity of technology or capability described in 
     the Section 36(b)(1) AECA certification 13-40 of July 9, 
     2013.
           Sincerely,
                                               Gregory M. Kausner,
       (For Charles W. Hooper, Lieutenant General, USA, Director).
       Enclosures.


                         Transmittal No. 19-0P

     Report of Enhancement or Upgrade of Sensitivity of 
         Techonology or Capability (Sec 36(b)(5)(C), AECA)
       (i) Prospective Purchaser: Government of France.
       (ii) Sec 36(b)(1), AECA Transmittal No.: 13-40; Date: July 
     9, 2013; Military Department: Air Force.
       (iii) Description: On July 9, 2013, Congress was notified 
     by Congressional certification transmittal number 13-40 of 
     the possible sale under Section 36(b)(1) of the Arms Export 
     Control Act of 16 MQ-9 Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft; 8 
     Mobile Ground Control Stations; 48 Honeywell TPE331-10T 
     Turboprop Engines (16 installed and 32 Spares); 24 Satellite 
     Earth Terminal Substations; 40 Ku Band Link-Airborne 
     Communication Systems; 40 General Atomics Lynx (exportable) 
     Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator (SAR/
     GMTI) Systems; 40 AN/DAS-1 Multi-Spectral Targeting System 
     (MTS)-B; 40 Ground Data Terminals; 40 ARC-210 Radio Systems; 
     40 Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation 
     Systems; and 48 AN/APX-119 and KIV-119 Identify Friend or Foe 
     (IFF) Systems. Also provided are spare and repair parts, 
     communication, test, and support equipment, publications and 
     technical documentation, airworthiness and maintenance 
     support, site surveys and bed down planning, personnel 
     training and training equipment, operational flight test, 
     U.S. Government and contractor technical and logistics 
     personnel services, and other related elements of logistics 
     support. The estimated total cost was $ 1.5 billion. Major 
     Defense Equipment (MOE) constituted $765 million of this 
     total.
       On July 26, 2018, Congress was notified by Congressional 
     certification transmittal number 18-0B of the retrofit of MQ-
     9s to become weapons capable, and the inclusion of 100 GBU-49 
     Enhanced Paveway dual mode GPS and laser guided bomb kits 
     comprised of MXU-650 Air Foil Group (AFG) and MAU-210 
     Enhanced Computer Control Group (ECCG); 200 FMU-152 fuzes; 
     650 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, with active warheads; 45 AGM-
     114R Hellfire training missiles, without active warhead; and 
     6 Hellfire Captive Air Training Missiles. The retrofit and 
     inclusion of MDE not enumerated in the original notification 
     resulted in an increase in the cost of MDE by $210 million. 
     The new MDE cost was $975 million. The total case value 
     increased to $1.71 billion.
       This transmittal reports the:
       1) retrofit of four (4) MQ-9A Block 1 to MQ-9A Block 5;
       2) addition of four (4) MQ-9A Block 5; and
       3) addition of fourteen (14) Embedded GPS/INS (EGI) with 
     GPS Security Devices.
       The MDE cost of these items is $80 million, resulting in a 
     new MDE cost of $1.055 billion. The total case value will 
     remain $1.71 billion.
       (iv) Significance: This notification is being provided as 
     the retrofit of the MQ-9A systems and the inclusion of MDE 
     items not originally notified represent an increase in 
     capability over what was originally notified. This equipment 
     will provide France's MQ-9 program with the equipment 
     necessary to support the capability requested.
       (v) Justification: This proposed sale will support the 
     foreign policy and national security of the United States by 
     helping to improve the security of a NATO ally which 
     continues to be an important force for political stability 
     and economic progress in Western Europe.
       (vi) Sensitivity of Technology: The MQ-9A is a long-
     endurance, medium altitude Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) 
     that can be used for surveillance, military reconnaissance, 
     and targeting missions. MQ-9A is capable of performing real-
     time flown under the control of a pilot in a Ground Control 
     Station (GCS). A data link is maintained that uplink commands 
     and downlink video with telemetry data. The data link can be 
     a Line-of-Sight (LOS) CB and communication or Beyond Line-of-
     Sight (BLOS) Ku-Band Satellite Communication (SATCOM). 
     Aircraft can be handed off to other strategically placed 
     ground control stations. The MQ-9A is designed to carry 800 
     pounds of internal payload with maximum fuel and can carry 
     multiple mission payload aloft such as kinetics, Electro-
     Optical/Infrared (EO/IR), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), and 
     other laser target designators. Block 5 includes a redesigned 
     forward avionics bay, NSA Type 1 encrypted data links, 
     enhanced power, dual wing-tip ARC-210 radios, payload control 
     computer, enhanced HMI and payload control in GCS.
       (vii) Date Report Delivered to Congress: November 22, 2019.

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