BLUE LANTERN SITE VISIT TO WB ELECTRONICS POST

UNCLAS WARSAW 001278 SIPDIS DTC FOR WATKINS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC KOMC PL SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN SITE VISIT TO WB ELECTRONICS POST SHIPMENT CHECK ON LICENSE 050101261 REF: STATE 92512 ¶1. SUMMARY: Staff from Embassy Warsaw, including Political Officer Duncan Walker, DHS/ICE official Glenn Spindel, and ODC representative Lt. Marek Strosin, accompanied Blue Lantern team on site visit to WB Electronics (WBE). Team met with WBE representative Justyna Dytrych who verified order, provided background information on export request and business operations, and facilitated team,s inspection of warehouse where the presence of 108 military radios was visually confirmed. Based on verification of order and documentation establishing Polish MOD as final end user, team was confident that WBE is a reliable recipient of USML items. ¶2. Blue Lantern team visited WBE as part of its larger outreach visit to Poland. The objective of the team,s site visit was to verify the bona fides of WBE, confirm its receipt of Harris military radios exported on license 050101261, and verify its relationship with the Poland Ministry of Defense (MOD). ¶3. WBE representative explained that WBE,s main business was to purchase parts and components for its military clients. It also does a smaller business in integrating such items into larger systems. Most of WBE,s clients are military end users, including the Polish Army, Swedish Army, Hungarian Army, and Indian Army. WBE does not do business with any proscribed countries and expressed familiarity with International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) governing the use of U.S.-origin defense articles and technology. ¶4. With this order, WBE confirmed that it ordered 153 radios from Harris and that it has received 108 to date. WBE provided documentation from the Polish MOD, a clear purchase order establishing its need for the items in question. The radios will be used in the Polish Army,s Armored Personnel Carrier Vehicles (APCV) for communication purposes. The radios will assist in NATO inter-operability during ultimate mission in Afghanistan. In this case, WBE will not provide integration services; it is only acting as a purchaser for the Polish Army which will outfit the radios onto the vehicles. ¶5. WBE allowed Blue Lantern team to access the warehouse and visually confirm receipt of radios from Harris Corporation in the United States. The warehouse was a secure facility, with limited entry, requiring badge/key to access and guarded with cameras and security personnel. The radios were still stored in boxes displaying shipping information clearly marking them as originating from Harris Corporation in the U.S. The team viewed the radios in the open boxes and confirmed that the items matched description on license application. ¶6. As a result of site visit to WBE, the Blue Lantern team is confident that WBE is a reliable recipient of ITAR-controlled items, is familiar with requirement banning re-export or retransfer of items without prior approval, and that the export of 153 military radios is a legitimate transaction. ASHE