DOD Expecting Continued Rise in FMS Cases, Focusing on Reform, Official Says

The Defense Department is expecting to see a continued uptick in the value and number of foreign military sales (FMS) cases this year, part of a trend caused by increased global demand for weapons systems, said James Hursch, director of the agency’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency. He said the U.S. had "over $50 billion" in FMS sales last year, which was a “considerable increase over the previous year,” and that trend should continue.

“We don't yet have the figures for this year, but we expect" to see "continued solid growth,” Hursch said during ComDef 2023 last week.

He also said the agency is focusing heavily on FMS reform, an effort that U.S. defense companies hope will reduce delays in military and weapons sales. One pillar -- outlined in June recommendations by DOD’s Tiger Team task force 2306200012) -- calls on DOD to improve training for security cooperation officers, who act as liaisons for a foreign nation purchaser in an FMS case.

“Our hope is that by really reworking the training of our security cooperation officers on the ground,” he said, “we will be able to have much more fruitful, interesting, helpful and positive discussions with the host nations in order to better help them get what they need faster out of our system.”

Hursch said the agency’s “most significant progress” so far “has involved enhancing accountability.” He said there have been 15 FMS reform efforts over the past 20 years, and DOD is hoping to “avoid having this FMS reform effort fall into the same place that many of its previous ones have.”

“The question is: did we actually carry any of those reforms through to implementation?” he said. “Of course, all the other things that we're doing in the world sometimes can slow down those implementation processes, but we're trying to do the best we can.”