Wright-Patt overseeing $30B in foreign arms sales

Dayton Daily News
Sales have been a boom for base with 103 nations.
By John Nolan, Staff Writer
Updated 1:05 PM Monday, June 27, 2011

Sales of U.S. military weapons and equipment to other countries and international
organizations are booming, making life busier at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The Air Force's foreign military sales, managed by the Air Force Security Assistance
Center at Wright-Patterson, has seen a 15 percent increase in the number of foreign
nations it works with in recent years and now serves 103 countries.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a Defense Department organization that
oversees all foreign military sales, says foreign sales have averaged $30 billion
for each of the last three years. That is nearly triple the levels of 2005-08, as
the United States finds more customers for its defense hardware and military
expertise. Air Force foreign military sales, managed at Wright-Patterson, have
increased by 15 percent.

The foreign sales help promote U.S. interests, Air Force officials said. They also
keep production lines running at U.S. defense contractors, said Loren Thompson, a
defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.

"It's good for the U.S. because it creates jobs, reduces our trade deficit and
supports the domestic production of weapons," Thompson said. "The United States is
now ... the biggest seller of weapons in the world."

The sales also mean more people at Wright-Patterson are devoted to foreign military
sales than in past years.

Thirty-one foreign liaison officers representing 28 countries work with AFSAC at
Wright-Patterson. The center works with other Air Force agencies to procure
equipment that U.S. allies want.

Roughly 670 people, or about 12 percent of the 5,500 people in acquisition jobs at
the base's Aeronautical Systems Center, work full-time on foreign military sales, a
sharp increase from years earlier, Air Force officials said.

The customers are buying everything from modern fighter aircraft and bombs to
snow-removal equipment and, in a few cases, parts and services to keep 1940s-era
planes flying. The customers pay up front in U.S.-maintained trust funds that pay
for the equipment and the military and civilian personnel who support the
transactions.

"We're providing the entire spectrum, and we stand behind what we're selling," said
Brig. Gen. Arnie Bunch, commander of the Air Force Security Assistance Center. "We
have technologies and capabilities a lot of nations would like to have."

The State and Defense departments work together to define the allies and friendly
governments that are allowed to participate in the program. The U.S. government
determines what level of technology to sell to other countries, which receive the
weapons on the understanding they are to be used for legitimate self-defense.

AFSAC and its counterparts in the other armed forces negotiate, execute and service
the deals, which can last for years. At Wright-Patterson, AFSAC works closely with
the Aeronautical Systems Center, which manages key Air Force weapons and aircraft
programs, to acquire what the foreign customers are buying.

The United States offers the program to build working relationships with other
governments that could be vital in times of joint military or humanitarian
operations, Bunch said.

"If we can't talk on the radio together, we can't deliver packages together into
Haiti," he said.

Changing world threat levels and an increase in governments seeking to defend
themselves are helping drive the demand for U.S. military hardware, Bunch said.

As a result, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency is looking for ways to speed up
deliveries to foreign buyers. That includes possibly making decisions in advance
about technologies that countries might request, and buying some of the
highest-demand goods in advance so they can be delivered faster, agency officials
have said.

The Arms Export Control Act, which gives the president authority to control the
export of defense articles and services, says the U.S. cannot make or lose money on
foreign military sales. Participating countries and international organizations buy
the goods and services at prices that recoup this country's actual costs. That
includes a fee (currently 3.8 percent of the actual cost , in most instances) to
cover the cost of administering the program.