VZCZCXYZ0012
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMD #1050/01 3011208
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281208Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1382

UNCLAS MADRID 001050 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR (TIM MAZZARELLI) 
STACIE ZERDECKI, EUR/WE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETTC KOMC SP
SUBJECT: FAVORABLE REPLY TO BLUE LANTERN 050191953 
 
REF: A. STATE 102227 
     ¶B. INFORMA FINANCIAL REPORT ON SUPEIM (PROVIDED 
        UPON REQUEST) 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Post has made inquiries and conducted site 
visit requested reftel and recommends speedy action to 
approve export license application number 050191953 for the 
export of night vision devices to Spain for the use of the 
Spanish Army.  Long-time habitual Ministry of Defense 
supplier Suministros Peninsulares Importados (SPI or SUPEIM), 
while relatively new to importing USML items, is on track to 
achieve various Spanish and international certifications and 
appears to be a good candidate for MOD acquisitions that may 
otherwise be derailed due to the U.S. Policy of Denial toward 
Elint, S.A.  Further, SUPEIM has requested Post's assistance 
in connecting with U.S. suppliers of specialty items such as 
lifejackets for helicopter pilots, and plans to work with the 
U.S. Commercial Service to that end.  SUPEIM's involvement in 
subject transaction also provides an alternative avenue for 
distribution to Needham, Massachusetts-based N-Vision Optics 
LLC, recently prevented from exporting a number of night 
vision goggles to Spain due to malfeasance on the part of 
Elint.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Spanish Ministry of Defense contacts confirmed October 14 
the existence of various partial orders to the company 
Suministros Peninsulares Importados (SPI or SUPEIM) totaling 
30 image intensifier tubes (IITs) worth a combined total of 
US $78,000. Captain Eladio Ferreiro, Head of the Export 
Control Unit within the Directorate General of Armament and 
Materiel (DGAM) at the Spanish Ministry of Defense, further 
confirmed the end use and end user as stated.  The new tubes, 
destined for the Spanish Army, will be substituted for other 
identical yet damaged components installed in current 
AN/PVS14 monocular devices. 
 
¶3.  SUPEIM General Manager Antonio Rubio Rubio likewise 
confirmed during an October 20 site visit that his company 
had received a number of smaller orders from PCMASACOM (a 
GSA-type supplier internal to the Spanish defense apparatus 
and armed services) totaling 30 tubes, to replace damaged 
tubes in existing night vision devices.  He combined the 
orders into a single purchase order dated September 2.  Rubio 
told pol-mil officer he would retain positive control over 
the IITs at all times prior to their transfer to the Spanish 
Army.  He indicated he strives for same-day turn-around on 
any sensitive or high-value orders, and added that the 
PCMASACOM delivery address was located less than 5 minutes' 
drive from his facility.  (Note:  Embassy staff can confirm 
his facility's proximity to PCMASACOM.)  It is even possible, 
he suggested, that these tubes could be delivered directly to 
the Army, with only documentary participation by his company. 
 
//SUMINISTROS PENINSULARES IMPORTADOS S.L.// 
 
¶4.  SUPEIM is a small, privately held defense supplier that 
has been doing business almost exclusively with the Spanish 
Ministry of Defense and law enforcement agencies since the 
company's establishment in 1992.  Antonio Rubio Rubio is its 
only director.  Spanish business information service INFORMA 
lists Rubio along with his wife, Maria Estrella Castro Munoz 
as the only two shareholders.  The company's financials (ref 
B) are generally good, although Rubio confided he hopes to 
get additional orders from the MOD.  From an employment high 
of 16-17 personnel, SUPEIM "in crisis" now employs only eight 
or nine at its Alcorcon location in an industrial park about 
20 minutes west of downtown Madrid. 
 
¶5.  Asked what types of items SUPEIM handles, Rubio said the 
company was "at the service" of its customers -- all domestic 
defense and law enforcement entities, including both Guardia 
Civil and the Spanish National Police.  He also supplies 
Eurocopter, which manufactures the Super Puma and repairs 
Chinooks.  To the extent SUPEIM specializes, he deals in 
military replacement parts and items difficult to find on the 
domestic market, including everything from greases and oils 
to antennas and electronic components.  On a tour of the 
company warehouse, Rubio pointed out boxes of items as varied 
as transparent tape, reflector lights for vehicles, office 
telephones, Bosch power tools, and standard Spanish blue 
coverall uniforms imprinted with the PCMASACOM logo.  This is 
the first time that SUPEIM has ordered night vision devices 
and the first time Rubio has worked with N-Vision, which had 
the needed tubes in stock.  The only other instance in which 
Rubio said he had experience with the U.S. export licensing 
system was in ordering controlled replacement parts for 
combat helmets two to three years ago.  (COMMENT:  SUPEIM 
seems to be a "defense supplier" in the most literal sense of 
the term, a go-to source used more often so far for 
administrative, office, and even cleaning products used by 
defense headquarters.  This transaction could well be a test 
case of an otherwise reliable and trusted supplier with more 
sensitive battlefield components.  END COMMENT.) 
 
¶6.  Asked about his company's security and accounting 
practices, Rubio stated SUPEIM has a Security Agreement with 
the MOD and strictly complies with all related protocols. 
The company is ISO 9001 certified and seeking additional 
certifications.  In keeping with these and other best 
practices, SUPEIM prepares orders quickly, verifying serial 
numbers as needed and getting items out to their end-users as 
quickly as possible.  In an ideal scenario, freight 
forwarders or shipping agencies deliver material in the 
morning, when SUPEIM's cashier is on duty to pay for 
transport costs.  Trained staff then take an hour or less to 
ready the product for onward "just-in-time" delivery.  Rubio 
makes it a practice not to keep merchandise overnight unless 
it is delivered too late to forward within a single business 
day.  Most orders are processed and sent out within one day, 
same-day or next-day delivery.  At most, SUPEIM could retain 
products 10-15 days in its warehouse if waiting to complete a 
single order fulfilled by diverse suppliers.  Asked if he 
understood the restrictions on unauthorized stockpiling of 
USML items, Rubio reiterated his intention to get the tubes 
and any other sensitive or costly equipment to their 
authorized end-users in the shortest term feasible. 
 
¶7.  Company offices are located upstairs from a medium-sized 
warehouse that doubles as a garage for two mid-sized delivery 
trucks.  Technicians make some small repairs in the warehouse 
to generation and other heavy equipment, and the warehouse 
contains products in circulation, all clearly marked as to 
their status in the receiving and delivery cycle.  Both the 
warehouse and office are monitored by security circuit 
cameras and motion detectors, linked 24 hours to police as 
well as private contract security in the industrial park. 
Rubio admitted the equipment was so sensitive that he had 
received 1 a.m. phone calls when sheets of paper slipped from 
the walls. 
 
 
CHACON