Back to news

October 7, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Here’s how many foreign military sales the US State Department OK’d in FY19

By: Aaron Mehta

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department cleared $67.9 billion in weapons in fiscal 2019, in an indication that America's position in the global arms trade remains strong.

The number, spread across 64 individual procurement requests from 28 different countries and a NATO consortium, represents the second year in a row that the overall value of foreign military sales requests have slightly declined. But the total still represents almost double the total cleared by the State Department in fiscal year 2016.

These numbers represent potential arms sales that the State Department cleared internally, then passed on to Congress through the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The notifications do not represent final sales; if Congress does not reject the potential sale, it then goes into negotiations, during which dollar figures and quantities of equipment can change. In some cases, as highlighted by the large FMS request notification for Turkey to buy Patriot batteries, those sales will never happen.

However, while not solid dollars, notifications are a notable way of tracking interest in procuring American arms from foreign partners, and can be a leading indicator of final sales to come.

Geographically, the Pacific region led the way with 21 requests, totaling $24.8 billion in potential sales – notable given the emphasis put forth by the Trump administration that the Pacific represents a priority theater for the future. Following that was the Middle East, with 18 requests totaling $15.2 billion. Europe had 18 requests for $19.8 billion; the only nation from Africa, Morocco, put in six requests totaling $7.26 billion; and Canada put in three requests, for $731 million.

The biggest potential customer, at a time of a whole-of-government effort against China is underway, is Taiwan. Over four different requests, Taiwan requested $10.7 billion in sales, driven primarily by $8 billion for long-sought F-16 aircraft, as well as $2 billion for Abrams tanks.

In second place was Japan, with $7.54 billion in requested sales, spread over six requests. That was driven by three different tranches of SM-3 missiles and an Aegis Ashore missile defense system. Morocco, which was cleared for six separate requests totaling $7.26 billion on U.S. arms, came in third. Their procurement was driven mainly by its purchase of new F-16 fighter jets and the associated equipment, as well as a request for Abrams tanks.

As always with FMS notifications, a few large sales can drive the overall total. Sixteen of the 63 sales requests topped $1 billion, led by Taiwan's F-16 request ($8 billion), Poland's F-35 request ($6.5 billion), Morocco's F-16s ($3.79 billion), the U.K's procurement of Chinook helicopters ($3.5 billion), Turkey's Patriot request ($3.5 billion) and Japan's largest SM-3 request ($3.3 billion).

The F-16 was a significant driver of FMS requests this year, showing the Lockheed Martin legacy plane remains popular around the world. Eight requests, with a potential total of $15.8 billion in sales, involved the F-16, raging from the request for tranches of fighters from Taiwan, Morocco and Bulgaria to $125 million for Pakistan security support related to their F-16 fighters.

While the numbers are strong, Roman Schweizer, an analyst with Cowen, notes that political realities could upend an unusual number of these potential deals in the coming year.

“Notably, for FY19, there are a number of large sales that may be unlikely for political or other reasons: these include a $3.5B sale to Turkey of Raytheon's Patriot missile system, a $2B sale to Taiwan of General Dynamics' M1 Abrams tanks, and an $8B sale to Taiwan of Lockheed Martin F-16s,” he wrote in a note to investors. “We don't think a Turkish Patriot purchase is possible as they continue to own/operate Russian-made S-400s. And while Taiwan needs U.S. weapons (fighters, tanks and more), there is a legitimate concern that those sales could be halted if there is a broader strategic agreement with China on trade and economic issues.

“If that's the case, about 20% of this year's potential deals aren't viable, meaning this would be a step-down year but not quite as low as FY16's $37B in announcements.”

From a corporate level, Schweizer estimates Lockheed Martin is the big winner for the year with $32 billion, followed by Raytheon at $15 billion, Boeing at $9 billion, General Dynamics at $3 billion, Northrop Grumman at $1.2 billion and Textron $600 million.

A specific wrinkle for FY19's accounting was the inclusion of $3.9 billion as part of a controversial emergency package pushed through by the Trump administration for Saudi Arabia and the UAE. For the better part of a year, those weapons were tied up in Congress over concerns of how they will be used as part of the Saudi-led actions against Iranian-backed fighters in Yemen, an operation that has contributed to a humanitarian crisis in that country. The issue escalated following the death of columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which has been tied to the Saudi royal family.

In May, the State Department announced that an emergency exemption would be used to push those arm sales through; while the administration cited a broad threat from Iran in the region as the reason, the move received bipartisan rebuke from both the Senate and the House, with some members expressing concern this was a precedent-setting move to take away arms sale veto powers from Congress.

That $3.9 billion was divided among seven FMS notifications, four for the UAE and three for Saudi Arabia.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/2019/10/04/heres-how-many-foreign-military-sales-the-state-department-okd-in-fy19/

On the same subject

  • Global Hawk UAS Capabilities Enhanced with New Sensors

    September 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

    Global Hawk UAS Capabilities Enhanced with New Sensors

    Mike Ball Northrop Grumman has enhanced its Global Hawk high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial system (UAS) with the addition of two new sensors. The MS-177 multi-spectral camera system provides additional high-resolution imaging capabilities, while the increment 1 upgraded AN/ASQ-230 system delivers enhanced signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection. The MS-177 multi-spectral camera system provides multiple channels of intelligence collection in both visible and infrared bands, giving the Global Hawk collection coverage in areas that cannot easily be reached by other means. Fielding of the AN/ASQ-230 increment 1 enhances Global Hawk's ability to deal with expanded electronic threats. Global Hawk's combination of autonomy, range, endurance and payload, and an average aircraft age of under nine years, make the UAS a valuable asset for domestic and international customers with critical ISR collection requirements. The system is uniquely positioned for additional missions that connect joint forces as one, including persistent high-capacity backbone, pseudo-satellite communications coverage, and joint all-domain command and control. Leslie Smith, vice president of the Global Hawk division at Northrop Grumman, commented: “Ongoing improvements to Global Hawk underscore Northrop Grumman's commitment to the United States Air Force's ISR mission and reducing costs through agile development and leveraged solutions. New and improved payloads flying on our young, yet proven fleet of aircraft will allow our partners to deploy high value, networked assets to monitor adversaries while not risking the lives of military personnel well into the 2040s.” https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2020/09/global-hawk-uas-capabilities-enhanced-with-new-sensors/

  • HII awarded $11.5M for further repairs on USS Gerald R. Ford

    December 5, 2019 | International, Naval

    HII awarded $11.5M for further repairs on USS Gerald R. Ford

    ByChristen McCurdy Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Hungtington Ingalls of Newport News, Va., was awarded an $11.5 million contract for further repairs on the troubled USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier. The contract, announced Tuesday by the Department of Defense, funds the advance planning, design, documentation, engineering, procurement, ship checks, fabrication and preliminary shipyard work on the first-in-class carrier. Work will be performed at Huntington Ingalls Newport News, Va., site and is expected to be completed by September 2020. The Pentagon has obligated $1 million at the time of the award that will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Ford, intended to replace Nimitz-class carriers, has been plagued by cost overruns and delays, including problems with its 11 electromagnetic elevators -- just seven of which were operational at the end of October. In recent months, the vessel completed a training evolution and sea trials, as well as an independent steaming exercise that included sailing more than 7,000 nautical miles, completing more than 1,000 cycles of the advanced weapons elevators and performed more than 200 advanced arresting gear simulations. The carrier is expected to start compatibility testing early next year, and is now expected to be ready for deployment sometime before 2024. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/12/04/HII-awarded-115M-for-further-repairs-on-USS-Gerald-R-Ford/4431575418593

  • Russia's New Fighter Breaks Cover'€”It's Got 'Stealth' Written All Over It

    July 19, 2021 | International, Aerospace

    Russia's New Fighter Breaks Cover'€”It's Got 'Stealth' Written All Over It

    Photos have appeared online depicting Russia's new stealth fighter, dubbed Checkmate. We now can try to assess its design.

All news