Lawmakers are moving forward with reforming how the U.S. sells weapon systems to allies to help the U.S. get advanced technologies such as unmanned systems into the hands of partner nations faster.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee in late July progressed a number of legislative packages that had provisions to incentivize U.S. capabilities and munitions development. These also broadened other nations’ options to acquire U.S.-created defense items, according to DefenseScoop. The bills were put forward by the committee’s Foreign Arms Sales Task Force.
Foreign interest in buying U.S. arms has grown in recent years. The total value of defense items, services and security cooperation activities conducted as foreign military sales, or FMS, was $118 billion in FY 2024, up from $81 billion in FY 2023. This is an increase of roughly 46 percent, according to State Department data. The agency also said this was the highest yearly total of sales and assistance supplied to allies and partners.
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How Do Foreign Military Sales Work?
FMS is run through DOD’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency with final approval by the State Department. Funding may be provided through Congress. FMS cases, though requiring DOD approval, do not require an export licensing process.
Direct Commercial Sales, or DCS, is perceived as a more flexible process as the allied customer interacts directly with a GovCon about required products and services. Allied customers get more power in the contracting process in DCS, including the type of award and how the contract is written, according to the National Defense Industrial Association.
President Trump in April issued an executive order directing reforms of foreign defense sales. Among his directives were consolidating parallel decision-making, reevaluating Missile Technology Control Regime Category I restrictions and creating a single electronic system to track all DCS export license requests and ongoing FMS efforts.
Improving Foreign Military Sales Through Better Communication
One top-ranking GovCon executive said a key to improving FMS transactions is ensuring better communications between government partners. Christopher Brown, General Dynamics Land Systems vice president for global strategy and international business development, said in July at the LANDEURO conference that partner nations can meet at trade shows and discuss ways their militaries can improve.
Then the two can discuss designing their weapon systems for better exportability, releasability and the inclusion of combatant commands. Brown suggested countries make orders and better define within their orders provisions such as NATO requirements and their expectation for full operational capability.
The Foreign Arms Sales Task Force held its first meeting in April where it discussed interdepartmental memorandums—instructions and guidance for leaders to help reduce the bureaucracy involved in weapon sales to allies. One legislative staff member who participated in the meeting was quoted by DefenseScoop as saying that a broad swath of the defense industrial base was represented in this meeting: startups, prime contractors and small arms developers.
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