[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 209 (Thursday, October 29, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66496-66499]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-27503]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Transmittal No. 15-54]


36(b)(1) Arms Sales Notification

AGENCY: Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Defense is publishing the unclassified text 
of a section 36(b)(1) arms sales notification. This is published to 
fulfill the requirements of section 155 of Public Law 104-164 dated 
July 21, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah A. Ragan or Heather N. Harwell, 
DSCA/LMO, (703) 604-1546/(703) 607-5339.
    The following is a copy of a letter to the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, Transmittal 15-54 with attached Policy Justification.

    Dated: October 23, 2015.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN29OC15.004

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Transmittal No. 15-54

Notice of Proposed Issuance of Letter of Offer Pursuant to Section 
36(b)(l) of the Arms Export Control Act, as amended
    (i) Prospective Purchaser: The Government of Spain
    (ii) Total Estimated Value:

Major Defense Equipment *...............................    $ 80 million
Other...................................................    $163 million
                                                         ---------------
  TOTAL.................................................    $243 million
 

    (iii) Description and Quantity or Quantities of Articles or 
Services under Consideration for Purchase:
    Major Defense Equipment (MDE):

Four (4) MQ-9 Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft
Twenty (20) Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Guidance Unit
(EGI) (3 per aircraft, and 8 spares)
Two (2) Mobile Ground Control Stations (MGCS)
Five (5) Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems (MTS-B) (1 per aircraft, 1 
spare)
Five (5) Synthetic Aperture Radar, Lynx AN/APY-8 (1 per aircraft, 1 
spare)

    Also provided are a unique and common spares package, support 
equipment, United States Air Force (USAF) technical orders, country 
specific technical orders, Contractor Logistics Support for two 
(optional three) years, contractor provided aircraft components, 
spares, and accessories, personnel training, and other related

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elements of logistical and program support.
    (iv) Military Department: Air Force (X8-D-SAA)
    (v) Prior Related Cases, if any: None
    (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: 05 Oct 2015

    * As defined in Section 47(6) of the Arms Export Control Act.

POLICY JUSTIFICATION

Spain--MQ-9 Block 5 aircraft

    The Government of Spain requested a possible sale of:
    Major Defense Equipment (MDE):

Four (4) MQ-9 Block 5 Remotely Piloted Aircraft
Twenty (20) Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Guidance Unit 
(EGI)
(3 per aircraft, and 8 spares)
Two (2) Mobile Ground Control Stations (MGCS)
Five (5) Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems (MTS-B) (1 per aircraft, 1 
spare)
Five (5) Synthetic Aperture Radar, Lynx AN/APY-8 (1 per aircraft, 1 
spare)

    Also provided are a unique and common spares package, support 
equipment, United States Air Force (USAF) technical orders, country 
specific technical orders, Contractor Logistics Support for two 
(optional three) years, contractor provided aircraft components, 
spares, and accessories, personnel training, and other related elements 
of logistical and program support. The estimated MDE cost is $80 
million. The estimated total cost is $243 million.
    This proposed sale enhances the intelligence, surveillance, and 
reconnaissance (ISR) capability of the Spanish military in support of 
national, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), United Nations, 
and other coalition operations. Commonality of ISR capabilities 
increases interoperability between U.S. and Spanish forces and provides 
a common interface with other MQ-9 NATO operators, including the United 
Kingdom, France, and Italy. The Spanish Air Force intends to use the 
MQ-9s for homeland security, peacekeeping, peace enforcement, 
counterinsurgency, and counterterrorism operations. The proposed sale 
improves Spain's ability to meet current and future threats by 
providing improved ISR coverage that promotes increased battlefield 
situational awareness, anticipates enemy intent, augments combat search 
and rescue, and provides ground troop support.
    Spain requests these capabilities to provide for the defense of its 
deployed troops, regional security, and interoperability with the 
United States. Spain will have no difficulty absorbing this additional 
capability.
    The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the 
basic military balance in the region.
    The principal contractor will be General Atomics Aeronautical 
Systems, Inc. in San Diego, California. Other sole source requests 
identified in the Letter of Request are Raytheon Company in McKinney, 
Texas, and L-3 Communications Systems--West in Salt Lake City, Utah. 
The purchaser requested offsets. At this time, offset agreements are 
undetermined and will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser 
and contractor.
    Implementation of this proposed sale may require multiple trips for 
U.S. contractor representatives to Spain and potentially deployed 
locations to provide initial launch, recovery, and maintenance support.
    There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a 
result of this proposed sale. All defense articles and services have 
been approved for release by the USAF foreign disclosure office.
Transmittal No. 15-54
Notice of Proposed Issuance of Letter of Offer Pursuant to Section 
36(b)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act
Annex
Item No. vii
    (vii) Sensitivity of Technology:
    1. The MQ-9 is a long-endurance, high-altitude Remotely Piloted 
Aircraft (RPA) used for surveillance, military reconnaissance, and 
targeting missions. MQ-9 is capable of performing real-time and pre-
programmed flight missions. Real-time missions are flown under the 
control of a pilot in a Ground Control Station (GCS). A data link is 
maintained that uplinks control commands and downlinks video with 
telemetry data. The data link can be a Line-of-Sight (LOS) C-Band 
communication or Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLOS) Ku-Band Satellite 
Communication (SATCOM). Missions are preprogrammed by pilots in the GCS 
or hand flown under the control of an onboard suite of redundant 
computers, controls, and sensors. A pilot initiates a pre programmed 
mission once the aircraft is airborne and lands the aircraft when the 
mission is completed. Pilots can change preprogrammed mission 
parameters as often as required. The aircraft can also be handed off to 
other strategically placed ground- or sea-based GCSs.
    The MQ-9 is designed to carry 800 pounds of internal payload with 
maximum fuel and can carry multiple mission payloads aloft. The 
following payloads are being integrated into the MQ-9 being prepared 
for offer to Spain as part of this proposed sale: Electro-Optical/
Infrared (EO/IR), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), and laser 
designators.
    a. The equipment proposed for the Spanish MQ-9 (Reaper) Letter of 
Request (LOR) is classified up to Secret.
    2. The Spanish MQ-9 system includes the following components:
    a. A secure Mobile Ground Control Station (MGCS) with workstations 
that allow operators to control and monitor the aircraft, as well as 
record and exploit downlinked payload data.
    b. The Raytheon Multi-Spectral Targeting System (MTS-B with Laser 
Target Designation) and multi-use ElectroOptical (EO)/Infra-Red (IR) 
sensor provides long-range surveillance, high-altitude target 
acquisition, tracking, and range-finding.
    c. Modified Weaponization Kit (UHK16205-1) is a hardware kit built 
into the aircraft at the time of production to include the necessary 
cables, mission kits, module assemblies, and switching modules that are 
critical in allowing mating, powering, and communicating with weapons 
that might be desired and authorized for use on the platform in the 
future. The Weaponization Kit to be provided under this proposed sale 
will not include the other necessary hardware required to employ 
weapons (aircraft pylons, bomb racks, weapons-specific components of 
the country specific technical orders (CSTOs) and airworthiness 
documents). Additionally, weapons employment will require software 
enhancement to the GCS prior to employment.
    3. If a technologically advanced adversary were to obtain knowledge 
of the specific hardware or software in this proposed sale, any 
information gleaned from exploitation of hardware, publications and 
software could be used to develop countermeasures (electronic, 
infrared, or other types) as well as offensive and defensive counter-
tactics and allow an adversary to exploit those vulnerabilities during 
combat.
    4. A determination has been made that the recipient country can 
provide substantially the same degree of protection for the sensitive 
technology being released as the U.S. Government. This sale is 
necessary in furtherance of the U.S. foreign policy and national

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security objectives outlined in the Policy Justification.

[FR Doc. 2015-27503 Filed 10-28-15; 8:45 am]
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