C3.3.8.4. Bilateral INFOSEC Agreement Signature. The bilateral agreement (e.g., CISMOA or COMSEC MOU, INFOSEC Equipment Agreement) must be in place in order for a purchaser to receive INFOSEC products or services associated with a C4ISR system..
As far as Egypt is concerned:
Very important| The most important points in the testimony of the commander of the US Central Command on Egypt at the hearing before the Congressional Armed Services Committee.
US Central Command USCENTCOM responsibilities include The Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia region, with the exception of Israel, which is under the responsibility of the United States European Command USUCOM headquartered at the MacDill Air Base in Tampa "In the state of Florida, while its advanced position is located at the base of Al-Aideed, Qatar.
The Congressional Armed Services Committee (SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE) held a hearing, during which CENTCOM Commander JOSEPH L. VOTEL gave a briefing on central command activity in areas of responsibility for defense and challenges related to terrorism and Iran.
As for Egypt, Votel said in his statement: Egypt remains an anchor of the interests of the United States in the region, its strategic location, its demographic weight, its religious and cultural influence, and the established peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Egypt is a vital partner in combating the flow of foreign fighters, equipment, and financial aid to extremist elements, which cross from Libya through Egypt to the central region. Egypt provides us with support in requests for crossing its airspace, securing our crossing in the Suez Canal and sharing our commitment to defeat the terrorist organizations.
The cornerstone of that relationship is our partnership in security assistance. As an example of the intensification of our joint efforts, the two sides signed the joint memorandum of understanding on security and the exchange of communications, marking the culmination of more than 30 years of efforts to improve security and cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
What is the MOU in the area of security and interoperability?
This agreement is defined by two names: COMCASA, CISMOA, or the Memorandum of Understanding on Security and Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement.
This memorandum or agreement allows for a legal framework to provide the second party with US telecommunications security systems that facilitate exchange and interoperability between US forces and the Second Party's forces, and with other friendly armies that use US equipment to work with secure tactical data links. The United States does not allow any unsigned States to acquire the above-mentioned telecommunications systems, which use alternative systems that are low-standard.
In addition, the signing of this memorandum allows the acquisition of weapons systems containing high-precision navigation devices operating on the GPS system, as well as weapons containing the latest guidance packages such as air-to-air missiles and others.
Who are the signatories to that Convention?
NATO, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Gulf States, Turkey, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan.. and India, which have signed a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement LEMOA with the United States and is negotiating to sign the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) and CISMOA as conditions for the transfer of production technology F-16 fighter block 70 there.
The LEMOA Agreement grants the parties - the US and the other - the ability to obtain spare parts, services and support from the bases, airports and ports of each other. (Egypt is not a signatory of the LEMOA- Egypt provides transit services from its airspace and sea and refueling the usual aircraft and ships of countries with which the military cooperates in general).
The BECA Agreement grants the signatory Party the ability to obtain topographical and aerial data for navigation and targeting purposes. (Egypt is not a signatory of the BECA - it allows the US side to know details of its military navigational maps).
Why did Egypt sign that memorandum despite its continued refusal to sign it over the past years?
To answer this question we have to be familiar with the terms and conditions of the agreement, which is certainly not available, but we will try to strive for the closest analysis of the truth.
In the previous period, Egypt relied mainly on American armaments, especially in the areas of maritime and aviation weapons systems - in addition to the ground forces obviously -; its main fighter was the F-16 and the main attack helicopters were the Apache and the main frigates were the Perry class.
The acceptance of such an agreement allows the US side to synchronise its communications systems with the US-made military communications systems of the other party. This means that any combat platforms equipped with such high-level communications systems will always be connected to the network and its location is well known to all. So, with full and complete reliance on US-made weapons, this is absolutely unacceptable.
At the present time, in the presence of a new political leadership with a different direction, there is a real trend to diversify the sources of armaments with the procurement of the French-made Rafale fighters, Fremm frigate, Mistral LHDs and Gowind heavy corvettes, the German-made Type-209 submarines, and the Russian-made advanced MiG-29M-M2 (Mig-35), Kamov K-52a and Katran helicopters, T-90S tanks, the S-300V4 air defense systems, Tor-M2, Buk-M2, Early Warning Radars and many other non-US equipments, as well as contracting the French-made military communication satellite (a high-security independent communications system and network), the Russian-made Egytsat-A and cooperation with the Chinese and Japanese sides in the production of surveillance and remote sensing satellites of Egypt, as well as intensive visits exchanged with the South Korean side, which was at the level of Ministers of Defense and Military Production, in preparation for a large military cooperation in the future. And not to forget the extended technical cooperation with the Chinese, African, Indian, Pakistani and a number of Eastern European countries, along with Spain, Italy, Greece and Britain.
This huge diversity, which began to manifest itself in clarity three years ago and will continue and expand further in the coming period, gave more room for freedom to make such a decision to sign the CISMOA agreement with the American side.
However, in order to cover all the questions that beset our minds, we have to wonder what are the terms of the memorandum that were accepted by the Egyptian side and those that were rejected. For example, Egypt is making its friend and foe identification systems (IFF), and there is a complete difference in the operating systems operating on the Rafale from those of NATO countries, and the same for the rest of the Western and Eastern weapons systems operating in the Egyptian army, and therefore the Egyptian side will definitively not accept any of its other systems to be identified by any hostile party like Israel. Egypt will have its own military communications satellite, meaning that all combat platforms of the Egyptian army will operate within a closed network with secure and fully independent communications system.
Also on which platforms will these communication systems listed in the agreement be applied ? Air platforms? Or ground vehicles? Or Navy ships? Will it be implemented, for example, on counter-terrorism platforms only? Such as rapid intervention forces? And again, we should not forget the presence of the Egyptian military communications satellite, which will certainly mean the implementation of satellite communication systems, specific to Egypt.
Noteworthy is the fact that the Egyptian armed forces, and the political leadership before them, categorically and completely rejected the idea of establishing foreign military bases on Egyptian soil, whether for the American side or even the Russian side, which strives hard to establish its position in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
So the question now is what quantity and quality of armaments will Egypt get in return? In other words, to what level the US will release what was prohibited?
There will certainly be more easing than before, and this will be clarified during the coming period .. US conveniences will be as much as they meet Egyptian ones ..
The current trend in diversifying the sources of armaments is reassuring to all, and there should be confidence in the General Command of the Armed Forces, which will never accept any threat to its security and the secrecy of its weapons systems.
Kanani
@Harpcore_lover
