Trump Policies Not Impeding U.S. Defense Sales Overseas

The military-industrial establishment that built a $60 billion-plus international market for U.S. weapons was holding its collective breath early in the Trump administration. Would foreign buyers balk at the president’s “America First” rhetoric and disparaging tweets about longtime allies?

“There were concerns and rumors that possibly with the new administration we would shift away from these efforts in security cooperation,” said Maj. Gen. Lawrence Martin Jr., assistant deputy under secretary of the Air Force for international affairs.

“We can resoundingly say that nothing could be further from the truth,” Martin said last week at the ComDef international defense conference.

Security cooperation is a broad descriptor of U.S. initiatives to build military and political ties with nations of similar values and interests. Sales of U.S. weapons have been central to these relationships.

“The demand for our service and for the interaction remains,” said Martin. “Our allies are extremely interested in integrating capabilities.”

The president has raised eyebrows for taking credit for weapons deals with Middle Eastern countries that were initiated years ago.

Experts point out that foreign military deals demand lots of time and patience. A sale of U.S. fighter aircraft, for example, can take years to bring to fruition and can span more than one administration.

During a visit to Saudi Arabia in May, the president came under sharp criticism for claiming that his administration had concluded a $110 billion arms deal with the kingdom.

Analyst Bruce Riedel, of the Brookings Institution, peeled off the layers and found that the deal was not actual contracts but the sum of many “letters of interest” and possible purchases that the defense industry had suggested the Saudis might make someday. And some of the items had been agreed to during the Obama administration.

The defense industry also became alarmed when Saudi Arabia, one of its largest customers, orchestrated a campaign to isolate another key ally and arms buyer, Qatar. The Arab embargo on Qatar continues to this day.

Amend said the president’s visit to Saudi Arabia, in fact, “energized the market.” 

Trump again brought up his arms-sales bona fides last week at a joint news conference at the White House with Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah of Kuwait. Kuwait is leading efforts to end the diplomatic crisis between Qatar and its Arab neighbors.

The president recalled that during his visit to Saudi Arabia, the emir had “personally asked me to expedite a $5 billion agreement for the sale of American F/A-18 Super Hornet fighting jets for Kuwait. And I am pleased to report that the State Department has now authorized this transferred purchase.”

Trump apparently was referring to a request for Super Hornets made by Kuwait last year, which the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of in November 2016.

Steve Grundman, an international defense analyst at the Atlantic Council, said the president should be given a pass for taking too much credit. “It’s not unusual for a president to gather up all the opportunities and prospects” as if they were firm contracts, he said.

Amend, of Raytheon Arabia, said the Middle East arms market is a good-news story for U.S. companies. “They welcome our collaboration,” he said. American firms still are the “preferred partners.”

Maria Laine, vice president of international strategic partnerships at Boeing Defense Space & Security, said the company sees “definite opportunities and substantial business in the Middle East market.” She has not seen an obvious impact from any Trump policy and noted his visit to Saudi Arabia was “viewed extremely positively.”

Trump’s promise to Kuwait’s emir that he would expedite the delivery of fighter jets could be read as a sign that he wants to shake up the notoriously sluggish foreign military sales process.

The head of the Pentagon’s office that oversees foreign sales suggested that faster service will be a priority for this administration.

“Responsive processes” in sales to U.S. allies is one of the goals set by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, said Army Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, the newly installed director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

“The secretary has brought me as a director to get more deeply involved in the formulation of process,” Hooper said. “We can always compress time to get capabilities faster to partners.”

Mattis has directed the DSCA to “work more closely with the geographic combatant commands, with industry and our partners … to cultivate relationships to define the capabilities that are necessary.”

Security cooperation is not just selling equipment, Hooper said. “American technology is the best in the world. But beyond that what we bring is the education, training, tactics and institution building.” The U.S. military and contractor, once they deliver the equipment, also provide maintenance and logistics support.

With this administration, “we’ve got some wind in our back,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Farmen, commander of the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command. “We’re definitely seeing an uptick in building partner capacity and security assistance. Foreign military sales are not just ‘shiny objects’ but maintenance, spares and the whole supply chain.”

Beth McCormick, director of the Defense Technology Security Administration that oversees exports of military technology, said the Pentagon has funded new programs to mentor the governments of friendly countries that want to become exporters of defense equipment.

This is important, she noted, because the Pentagon worries that technology sold to a partner country might end up in the wrong hands if that nation inadvertently releases it.

The State Department, meanwhile, is pressing on with years-long efforts to simplify the export licensing progress. All defense exports have to be approved by the State Department.

The Trump administration wants to simplify the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, a law that hasn’t been subject to a comprehensive review since 1984, said Brian Nilsson, deputy assistant secretary of state for defense trade controls. “We have been doing a fair amount of work,” he said. One immediate priority is to expedite defense exports to close allies like the United Kingdom and Australia.

A Cowen Research report noted that U.S. foreign military sales notifications so far in fiscal year 2017 exceed $66 billion, about $1 billion shy of the 2012 peak.

“Next year's sales could be bolstered by additional Saudi sales” and purchases by other Middle East nations that worry about deterring Iran, noted Cowen analyst Roman Schweizer. “We see U.S. foreign military sales as a continuing positive” not just in the Middle East but also in Asia and Europe.

Sandra Erwin is a national security and defense reporter for RealClearDefense. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Sandra on Twitter @Sandra_I_Erwin.