The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a Defense Department organization that oversees all foreign military sales, says foreign sales have averaged $30 billion for each of the last three years. That is nearly triple the levels of 2005-08, as the United States finds more customers for its defense hardware and military expertise. Air Force foreign military sales, managed at Wright-Patterson, have increased by 15 percent.
The foreign sales help promote U.S. interests, Air Force officials said. They also keep production lines running at U.S. defense contractors, said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.
“It’s good for the U.S. because it creates jobs, reduces our trade deficit and supports the domestic production of weapons,” Thompson said. “The United States is now ... the biggest seller of weapons in the world.”
The sales also mean more people at Wright-Patterson are devoted to foreign military sales than in past years.
Thirty-one foreign liaison officers representing 28 countries work with AFSAC at Wright-Patterson. The center works with other Air Force agencies to procure equipment that U.S. allies want.
Roughly 670 people, or about 12 percent of the 5,500 people in acquisition jobs at the base’s Aeronautical Systems Center, work full-time on foreign military sales, a sharp increase from years earlier, Air Force officials said.
The customers are buying everything from modern fighter aircraft and bombs to snow-removal equipment and, in a few cases, parts and services to keep 1940s-era planes flying. The customers pay up front in U.S.-maintained trust funds that pay for the equipment and the military and civilian personnel who support the transactions.
“We’re providing the entire spectrum, and we stand behind what we’re selling,” said Brig. Gen. Arnie Bunch, commander of the Air Force Security Assistance Center. “We have technologies and capabilities a lot of nations would like to have.”
The State and Defense departments work together to define the allies and friendly governments that are allowed to participate in the program. The U.S. government determines what level of technology to sell to other countries, which receive the weapons on the understanding they are to be used for legitimate self-defense.
AFSAC and its counterparts in the other armed forces negotiate, execute and service the deals, which can last for years. At Wright-Patterson, AFSAC works closely with the Aeronautical Systems Center, which manages key Air Force weapons and aircraft programs, to acquire what the foreign customers are buying.
The United States offers the program to build working relationships with other governments that could be vital in times of joint military or humanitarian operations, Bunch said.
“If we can’t talk on the radio together, we can’t deliver packages together into Haiti,” he said.
Changing world threat levels and an increase in governments seeking to defend themselves are helping drive the demand for U.S. military hardware, Bunch said.
As a result, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency is looking for ways to speed up deliveries to foreign buyers. That includes possibly making decisions in advance about technologies that countries might request, and buying some of the highest-demand goods in advance so they can be delivered faster, agency officials have said.
The Arms Export Control Act, which gives the president authority to control the export of defense articles and services, says the U.S. cannot make or lose money on foreign military sales. Participating countries and international organizations buy the goods and services at prices that recoup this country’s actual costs. That includes a fee (currently 3.8 percent of the actual cost , in most instances) to cover the cost of administering the program.
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