The Department of Defense has notified Congress that the Government ofVenezuela has requested the purchase of 11 new production Assault AmphibiousVehicles with ancillary equipment or the overhaul/modification/upgrade of 11Landing Tracked Vehicles (LTV-7) in-country to the Assault Amphibious Vehicleconfiguration; 9,000 rounds of 40mm ammunition; 30,000 rounds of M2 ammunition;16,000 rounds of M240 machine gun ammunition; 9,000 rounds of miscellaneoussmall caliber ammunition and other related elements of program support.
Theestimated cost is $35 million.
Venezuela will use these vehicles to upgrade its current amphibious vehicleinventory and to modernize and strengthen its naval operational capability insupport of national defense objectives.
Venezuela will have no difficultyabsorbing these vehicles into its armed forces.
This sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of theUnited States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country whichhas been and continues to be an important political and economic partner inSouth America.
The sale of this equipment will not affect the basic militarybalance in the region and there will be no adverse impact on U.S. defensereadiness.
The Assault Amphibious Vehicles (new production or modification program) willbe procured through a competitive procurement using design and technical dataowned by the U.S.
Implementation will not require the assignment of any additional U.S.government personnel in-country, but will require approximately two years ofcontractor engineering and technical support in-country beginning with deliveryof the amphibious vehicles.
The Department of the Navy will be responsible for all transactions resultingfrom this sale.
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