COUNTRY TEAM ASSESSMENT FOR JORDANIAN ARMED FORCES

UNCLAS AMMAN 007970 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MAP SUBJECT: COUNTRY TEAM ASSESSMENT FOR JORDANIAN ARMED FORCES (JAF) REQUEST FOR A SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS MONITORING SYSTEM 1 ON 2 APRIL 2003 THE JORDANIAN ARMED FORCES (JAF) SUBMITTED A LETTER OF REQUEST (LOR) FOR A LETTER OF OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE (LOA) FOR A SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS MONITORING SYSTEM WITH THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATIONS: ¶A. FREQUENCY RANGE OF 3600-4200 MHZ AND 1400-1700 MHZ ¶B. LOW NOISE AMPLIFIERS ¶C. SATELLITE TRACKING CONTROLLER ¶D. VOICE CHANNELS NOT LESS THAN 16, DATA CHANNELS NOT LESS THAN 8 ¶E. POWER REQUIREMENTS 110-240V AC 45-60HZ ¶F. MUST MEET INMARSAT STANDARDS OF B,M, MINI M AND THURAYA ¶2. THE EMBASSY COUNTRY TEAM RECOMMENDS THAT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT APPROVES RELEASE OF THE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS MONITORING SYSTEM TO THE GOJ FOR PROCUREMENT THROUGH THE FOREIGN MILITARY SALES PROGRAM. ¶3. THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN PLAYS A PIVOTAL ROLE IN THE CONTINUED PEACE OF THE REGION AND MERITS FURTHER U.S. ASSISTANCE. THE SYSTEMS IN QUESTION WILL ENABLE JORDAN TO DEFEND ITS BORDERS BETTER, TO DETER POTENTIAL TERRORISTS, AND TO PREVENT TERRORIST ACTIVITY WITHIN JORDAN'S BORDERS BY INTERCEPTING SIGNALS. SUCH A TOOL WOULD PREVENT BOTH SMALL AND LARGE-SCALE TERRORIST ACTIVITY BY TAKING AWAY THE TERRORIST'S ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE WITH SATELLITE PHONES, A TECHNOLOGY USED BY KNOWN TERRORIST GROUPS. ¶4. JORDAN IS A KEY PLAYER IN THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR AND AS SUCH JORDAN IS ALREADY SCHEDULED TO RECEIVE 2 OF EACH VERSION 2 AN/PRD MOBILE RADAR SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS FROM ANOTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCY. THE RELEASE OF THE SATELLITE COMMUNICATION S MONITORING SYSTEM WILL IMPROVE JORDAN'S ABILITY TO COMBAT AND DETER TERRORISM. THE MORE CAPABLE JORDAN IS IN PROTECTING AND SECURING ITS BORDERS, THE MORE EFFECTIVE JORDAN'S EFFORTS WILL BE IN DETERRING AGGRESSION AND IN ENHANCING THE STABILITY OF OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION. ¶5. THE JORDANIAN GOVERNMENT CONFIRMED TO THE EMBASSY COUNTRY TEAM ITS INTENT TO PROVIDE THESE ITEMS WITH THE SAME DEGREE OF SECURITY AS THE U.S. WOULD PROVIDE. IN THE PAST JORDAN HAS BEEN A TRUSTWORTHY CUSTODIAN OF SIMILAR SENSITIVE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY AND THE COUNTRY TEAM STRONGLY BELIEVES THAT THIS WILL CONTINUE. ¶6. WE DO NOT ANTICIPATE SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE REACTION FROM ANY REGIONAL STATE, INCLUDING ISRAEL OR SAUDI ARABIA, IN RESPONSE TO JORDAN'S ACQUISITION OF THE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS MONITORING SYSTEM. THE REGIONAL COUNTRIES SHARE A MUTUAL INTEREST IN SEEING THAT JORDAN'S MILITARY MAINTAINS OR INCREASES ITS DEFENSIVE CAPABILITIES. ¶7. THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION WILL NOT SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGE THE FORCE STRUCTURE OF THE JORDANIAN ARMED FORCES. ¶8. THE SYSTEMS WOULD BE FUNDED BY FOREIGN MILITARY FINANCING (FMF) AND WILL HAVE NO IMPACT ON THE JORDANIAN ECONOMY. ¶9. IF JORDAN IS ALLOWED TO PROCURE THE SYSTEM, TRAINING ON THE SYSTEM WILL BE REQUIRED. THERE WOULD BE NO ADVERSE REACTION TO UNITED STATES PERSONNEL CONDUCTING THE TRAINING IN JORDAN. ¶10. WE ARE UNAWARE OF ANY ALLEGATIONS OF GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY THE JORDANIAN ARMED FORCES THAT WOULD PROHIBIT RELEASE OF THESE ITEMS. ¶11. POC FOR THIS ACTION IS MAJ W. MARK HUNTHROP, USA, AT 011-962-6-592-0101, EXT 2545 OR WHUNTHROP@SAN.OSD.MIL. HALE