US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI2305

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 002305 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOD FOR CSAF GENERAL JUMPER, POLAD FRAZIER AND SAF/IA 
WILLARD MITCHELL 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NP AND PM 
 
TUNIS FOR FSI MAYBURY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/13 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PARM, MOPS, GCC, TC 
SUBJECT:  SCENESETTER FOR UAE AIR FORCE 
COMMANDER MG KHALED AL-BUAINNAN'S 
VISIT TO THE U.S. 
 
REF:  Abu Dhabi 1107 
 
1. (U) Classified by Charge Richard A. Albright for 
reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
2. (C) UAE Air Force Commander Major General Khaled 
Abdullah Al-Buainnan will visit the U.S. May 12-22. 
Al-Buainnan's visit presents a good opportunity for 
us to review our strong bilateral Air Force-to-Air 
Force relationship in the post-Iraq conflict era 
and catch-up on the myriad UAE Air Force-related 
procurement requests.  Al-Buainnan is attending a 
commercial remote sensing conference in Washington 
and will subsequently hold meetings with officials 
at the Department of Defense and the Department of 
State.  At DoD, he will see Chief of Staff of the 
Air Force General John Jumper, Naval International 
Programs Office Director RADM Newsome, and SAF/IA 
Deputy U/S Willard Mitchell; Al-Buainnan will see 
Bureau of Non-Proliferation Assistant Secretary 
John Wolf and Assistant Secretary for Political- 
Military Affairs Lincoln Bloomfield at the 
Department of State. 
 
KEY FIGURE IN OUR BILAT MILITARY RELATIONSHIP 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
3. (C) MG Al-Buainnan is a key figure in our 
bilateral military relationship.  Though nominally 
the Air Force Commander, Al-Buainnan in many ways 
serves as a key deputy and military strategist for 
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Muhammad bin Zayid (the 
de factor Defense Minister).  He has adeptly 
navigated the often complex UAE military and 
political bureaucracy, garnering tremendous 
resources for his small but very agile Air Force, 
and is considered to be a shoe-in as the next Armed 
Forces Deputy Chief of Staff or Director of 
Military Intelligence. 
 
FOCUS COUNTRY FOR THE USAF 
-------------------------- 
 
4. (S) For the U.S., the UAE is quite simply "Air 
Force" country.  The U.S. Air Force has had a 
footprint here since the Gulf War, primarily at Al- 
Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi and has for some time 
considered the UAE to be a "focus" country for USAF 
activities in the region.  Al-Dhafra Air Base has 
hosted an Operation Southern Watch refueling 
squadron since the early 1990s.  We plussed-up with 
deployments of reconnaissance aircraft during 
Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001, including the 
first overseas deployment of the unmanned Global 
Hawk.  In the run-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom, 
the Emiratis unquestioningly accommodated our 
deployment requests, hosting 20 KC-10s, 10 U-2s and 
one Global Hawk at Al-Dhafra.  Al-Minhad Air Base 
in Dubai was made available at the eleventh hour to 
host a 21-aircraft strong C-130 wing with some 
1,200 associated personnel.  In the post-Iraq 
phase, we are exploring the possibility of 
maintaining a significant footprint at Al-Dhafra. 
The UAEG has already approved the construction of 
semi-permanent housing for USAF personnel at Al- 
Dhafra, signaling their desire for a long-term 
relationship.  Any light Al-Buainnan's USG 
interlocutors could shed on our plans for a future 
military presence, particularly USAF plans, in the 
UAE would be welcome.  Al-Buainnan was key in 
making our OEF and OIF deployments possible, 
agreeing to shift UAE assets and facilitating the 
construction of tent cities at these bases. 
 
AIR WARFARE CENTER TO SHOWCASE MULTILATERAL TIES 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
5. (S) One of our major success stories with the 
Emiratis is the soon-to-be established Air Warfare 
Center (AWC), located at Al-Dhafra Air Base.  This 
bilateral UAEAF-CENTAF project will, once fully 
completed, offer the GCC plus two (Egypt and 
Jordan), the UK, France and the U.S. a state-of- 
the-art regional air force training center.  In the 
post-Iraq environment, the AWC will present an 
ideal opportunity for the USAF to build officer-to- 
officer relationships with our regional and 
European allies.  It reflects Al-Buainnan's long- 
term vision for the U.S. relationship with and 
presence in the region.  Al-Buainnan displayed 
similar leadership skills in spearheading the 
Middle East Air Symposia in 2001 and 2002, both of 
which were held in Abu Dhabi and brought together 
Air Force chiefs from the GCC plus two, UK, France 
and the U.S.  CENTAF has already deployed several 
officers to the AWC and will station several combat 
aircraft there in the months to come. 
 
UAEAF COMMANDER SEEKS GREATER INTEROPERABILITY 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
6. (S) One of Al-Buainnan's greatest strengths has 
been his integrated approach toward long-range 
planning for the UAE Air Force.  He has steadily 
built up the Air Force's asset base, advocating the 
purchase of new aircraft, upgrading aircraft in- 
stock and procuring surveillance and reconnaissance 
systems. At the center of Al-Buainnan's procurement 
philosophy is increasing interoperability with U.S. 
forces.  Current examples include the UAE's 
proposed upgrade for 30 Apache helicopters from the 
A model to the D/LONGBOW configuration, and the 
potential E-2C Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning (AEW) 
purchase.  In the releasability arena, he has 
expressed interest in the status of the LINK-16 
6510 process.  Additionally, Al-Buainnan has 
overall responsibility for the 80 Block 60 F-16 
"Desert Falcons," the first of which rolls off the 
line in Texas this fall.  He has overseen the UAE's 
ambitious F-16-related pilot training program, 
which has had to scale back to traiing 1.5 pilots 
per aircraft instead of the original goal of 2 per 
aircraft.  That said, the program will in its 
endstate produce a pilot corps for the most 
sophisticated aircraft to be sold to an Arab state 
to date. 
 
REMOTE SENSING PROJECT 
---------------------- 
 
7. (S) At the Department of State, MG Al-Buainnan, 
among other topics, will be discussing the UAE's 
desire to purchase Remote Sensing technology from 
the U.S.  In February, Post hosted a USG 
interagency team which met with one of Al- 
Buainnan's key deputies, UAEAF COL Mahash Al- 
Hameli, Chief of the Space Reconnaissance Center 
and Director of UAEAF Intelligence (reftel).  The 
Emiratis, citing national security requirements 
(read: the threat posed by Iran) and the need to 
ensure a dedicated data stream, desire a satellite 
system.  From the UAE standpoint, this system would 
ideally entail some sort of knowledge transfer so 
that Emirati operators can understand the launch 
capabilities and trouble-shoot maintenance problems 
without having to rely on a foreign contractor. 
 
ALBRIGHT