A key lawmaker said improving the process of selling weapons to foreign countries is a “priority issue,” and one she intends to hold hearings on.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., chairwoman of the House Armed Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, told the Washington Examiner that she will focus on the issue on Capitol Hill.
“I recently held a briefing for subcommittee members on the topic which led to language for an amendment in this year’s [National Defense Authorization Act]. I am also going to be holding two hearings to examine DoD’s involvement with foreign military sales and ways we can expedite and streamline the process going forward to better enable our allies to access the assets they need to meet the increasing global threats,” she said in a statement.
The Pentagon has also expressed a willingness to reform and speed up the process of selling military goods to foreign governments.
According to a report released Monday, Lockheed Martin has sold the most goods to foreign militaries so far in fiscal 2016, including four frigates to Saudi Arabia.
The report from Guggenheim Partners predicted that the U.S. is on track to match or surpass last year’s $43 billion in sales to foreign militaries. As of the end of April, the U.S. had sold $29 billion worth of equipment to overseas militaries, but a “number of pending U.S. fighter aircraft orders … could bump that number up significantly if they are approved by the White House,” the report says.
Lockheed Martin’s $17.6 billion worth of goods sold to foreign militaries this fiscal year, including the $11 billion in frigates, put it on top of Raytheon and Northrop Grumman.
A couple in-progress deals could significantly boost this year’s amount of foreign military sales if they finally go through, the report says. One is a 10-year deal with Israel for annual foreign military financing, which has been stuck for months but could bring a “surge” in spending if it is finalized, including on Lockheed Martin F-35s, Boeing F-15s and Textron-Boeing MV-22s.
The Royal Australian Navy could also announce the winner of the contract to supply a new combat system for its submarine class in the next few weeks, the report says. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin are the competitors.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told reporters last month that she is working to speed up the foreign arms sales process after hearing complaints during a recent trip through Latin America. Some countries, she said, are getting so frustrated with the process that they look to buy from other countries, which ultimately hurts the U.S. defense industry.
A working group looking at the issue is expected to provide James recommendations on what the Air Force can do to improve this process by the summer.
Some reforms being considered include changing training for people in the field and developing metrics by which to measure how quickly sales are approved.
