VZCZCXYZ0007
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #3128 1451115
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251115Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8492

UNCLAS CAIRO 003128 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MASS MOPS EG
SUBJECT: POTENTIAL IMPACT OF A REDUCTION OF EGYPT'S FMF 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1.  (U)  This is an action request.  Please see paragraph two. 
 
¶2.  (U)  During a recent meeting with Office of Military 
Cooperation-Egypt Chief MG Byron Bagby, Congressman Kolbe 
requested an outline of the potential impact of a reduction 
or reprogramming of Egypt's Foreign Military Financing. Post 
requests Department assistance with transmitting the points 
below (responding to the Congressman's question) to Mr. 
Kolbe's office. 
 
¶3.   (SBU)  The potential impact of a reduction of FMF may 
include: 
 
--    Reduced intelligence sharing. 
 
--    Reduced political cooperation, including on regional 
issues such as Israel-Palestine and Sudan and in multilateral 
fora such as the UN and IAEA. 
 
--    Imposition of security surcharge of 55K Euro/$71K per 
vessel for each Suez Canal transit.  The GOE currently waives 
the security surcharge for U.S. Navy vessels.  The GOE waived 
$10.9 million in such fees in 2005. 
 
--    Loss of GOE expediting for U.S. Navy vessels in the 
Suez Canal.  The potential increased time vessels may spend 
waiting to transit the canal could increase vessels' security 
vulnerability and operating costs. 
 
--    Reduced access to senior military and political 
officials. 
 
--    Strict adherence to required notice periods for 
overflight and Suez Canal transit permissions with a 
potential impact on OIF/OEF.  The GOE does not currently 
enforce the notice periods for vessels or aircraft (30 days 
notice for nuclear vessel Canal transits; seven days notice 
for regular vessels; 21 days notice for special aircraft). 
 
--    Reduced cooperation in efforts to develop the Egyptian 
military's consequence management capabilities.  Military 
exercise BRIGHT STAR for 2007 is currently scheduled to 
include consequence management exercises. 
 
--    Termination of Foreign Military Sales cases (depending 
on the size of the reduction) with an impact on the U.S. 
defense industry.  Cases that could be impacted include: 
 
¶1.  Three Fast Missile Craft for $526M -- VT Halter, Lockheed 
Martin, Northrup Grumman 
¶2.  500 High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) for $105M 
-- AM General Manufacturer 
¶3.  Six Patrol Boats for $46M -- SwiftShips 
¶4.  164 M109A5 155mm self-propelled Howitzers for $167M -- 
BAE Corp. refurbishment program 
¶5.  25 Avenger Air Defense Missile Systems for $110M -- 
Boeing, Northrup Grumman, Raytheon 
RICCIARDONE