Foreign Military Sales: Shaping Foreign Policy and Enhancing the Industrial Base

Abstract

Abstract : The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, a Defense Department operation that manages sales of defense equipment as well as services and training to allied governments, is becoming a source of increasing dissatisfaction for the U.S. defense industry and government customers trying to buy and sell weapon systems. From 1986 to 1989, the United States sold $29.1 billion of weaponry to developing countries through the FMS and general direct arms sales. During the following four years, which coincided with the end of the Cold War, the U.S. nearly doubled new sales agreements. A combination of factors is driving this aggressive campaign. The need to use FMS and direct arms sales as a National Strategy Shaper has been the focus in the past. However, economic imperatives, principally the desire to maintain the current arms industrial base is a major driver in acquisition decisions. In addition, FMS/arms sales is used as a vehicle to increase quantities, ultimately reducing the overall unit cost of critical weapon systems. This has slowly become the FMS and general arms sales emphasis. The overall goal of this paper is to examine the current FMS/arms sales policy and propose a way of balancing FMS/arms sales as a strategy shaper and acquisition multiplier.