VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMD #0998/01 2861452
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY ADC38B84 MSI5075-695)
R 131452Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1320

UNCLAS MADRID 000998 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION 
PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR 
FOR PETER SABATINI, PM/DTCC 
FOR STACIE ZERDECKI, EUR/WE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETTC KOMC SP
SUBJECT: REPLY TO ELINT-RELATED BLUE LANTERN 050179563 
(UNFAVORABLE) AND 050141626 (FAVORABLE) 
 
REF: A. STATE 81475 
     ¶B. 9/01/09 MURRAY-SABATINI E-MAILS 
     ¶C. 9/08/09 CEBALLOS LETTER AND ATTACHMENT 
     ¶D. MADRID 908 
     ¶E. STATE 96274 
     ¶F. MADRID 777 
     ¶G. MADRID 453 
 
¶1. (SBU) Amid heightened suspicion of wrong-doing, including 
unauthorized storage of night vision devices and 
falsification of orders by Spanish defense distributor Elint 
S.A. (refs D, F, G), Post enjoyed the full cooperation of 
Spanish Ministry of Defense contacts in investigating two 
unrelated Elint orders for battlefield effects simulators 
(ref A).  Both cases involved significant quantities of paint 
balls, rechargeable batteries, landmine trainers, and other 
items intended for the end use of the Spanish Army in 
preparing soldiers to recognize improvised explosive devices 
and other threats.  No DSP-83 end-use certificates were 
submitted for either license, nor did PM/DTCC have any 
documentation signed by GOS entities (ref B).  MOD 
Directorate General of Armament and Materiel (DGAM) 
Subdirector General for International Relations BG Jose Luis 
Ceballos Porras, who met with Pol-Mil officer and ODC chief 
September 3 regarding these cases and the ongoing 
investigation of Elint, confirmed only one of the orders for 
simulation supplies and refutes the second, much 
higher-valued order. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Post-Shipment Check on License 050141626 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Post can confirm the specific types and value of 
commodities ordered and will forward Spanish Army 
documentation of what appears to be a legitimate order. 
Regarding reftel A request to verify the Spanish Army's 
purchase and receipt of USD $8,748.00 worth of 
non-pyrotechnic battlefield effects simulators for the 
training of Spanish soldiers in recognition of IEDs, suicide 
bombers, and booby traps, Spanish MOD advised the order was 
within the realm of the possible because up to USD $90,000 
had been authorized for such purchases, and DGAM would 
compare line items to confirm.  Spanish MOD provided Post on 
September 8 documentation verifying the purchase of Euros 
6,245.98 worth of simulation and training products from 
Combat Training Solutions via foreign consignee Elint.  The 
DGAM dual-use transfer license signed January 19 includes an 
inventory of products in Spanish that correlates down to 
exact part numbers with the product list (ref A) of items 
exported by Combat Training Solutions on January 29. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Pre-License End-Use Check on Application 050179563 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶3. (SBU) However, Spanish MOD contacts questioned from the 
beginning the veracity of a subsequent purchase order for USD 
$15,276,600.00 worth of battlefield effects simulators (ref 
A) and held that no Spanish military entity would have been 
authorized to order such materials in such quantities in 
light of current budget constraints.  PM/DTCC noted September 
1 that the Elint purchase order was of exceptionally bad copy 
quality and difficult to read due to small print (ref B). 
Neither this license application nor the previous shipment, 
subsequently confirmed, had any documentation signed by the 
Spanish Army or any other GOS official.  Based on assertions 
made September 3 by Ceballos and the lack of GOS documentary 
support, PM/DTCC returned license application 050179563 
without action (RWA).  In his letter dated September 8, 
Ceballos reiterated that the Army's initial response denied 
existence of the order. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Subsequent to the RWA notification, beginning 
September 14, Elint Product Manager Carlos Dominguez 
nonetheless placed numerous calls to Madrid ODC inquiring 
about the administrative hold.  Elint also lobbied Combat 
Training Solutions, a company representative of which 
contacted the U.S. Commercial Service via the Denver office 
for assistance.  Dominguez maintained that the Spanish Army 
needed the battlefields effects simulators urgently and asked 
who he might contact to break what he perceived to be a 
bureaucratic logjam.  The Spanish MOD subsequently received a 
written response the week of October 5 from the Spanish Army 
stating that the Army did not/not order the material 
referenced in the MOD's query based on our request (ref A). 
As of October 7, General Ceballos planned to notify ODC Chief 
in writing of the result of their investigation. 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
Continuing Investigation of Elint 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Elint was placed under a Policy of Denial by the 
United States on September 24, in close coordination with 
Spain's DGAM, which has likewise instructed the Spanish 
services to refrain from using Elint.  Spanish MOD and 
Spanish National Police contacts investigating Elint's prior 
offenses await original documentation requested by PM/DTCC of 
N-Vision Optics LLC o/a September 23 in order to take legal 
action against Elint. 
CHACON