United States foreign military arms sales totaled $50.78 billion in 2020


According to information published by the United States Department of Defense on December 4, 2020, United States foreign military arms sales totaled $50.78 billion in 2020, said Heidi H. Grant, DSCA (Defense Security Cooperation Agency) director.
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DSCA’s mission is to advance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests by building the capacity of foreign security forces to respond to shared challenges. (Picture source DSCA)


Many people assume that the Foreign Military Sales are limited to just the provision of defense articles and services under the Foreign Military Sales, or FMS program, said Heidi H. Grant. However, the DSCA (Defense Security Cooperation Agency) security cooperation mission encompasses much more, including humanitarian disaster relief, international military education and training and institutional capacity building programs that aim to assist partners and strengthen their policies and processes.

For example, DSCA trained some 31,000 foreign military students in department school houses and deployed 55 advisors to 13 allied and partner nations. The range of security cooperation programs also allows providing full-spectrum capability and developing strong long-term relationships.

DSCA proactively identified opportunities to help many allies and partners balance FMS financial obligations with current financial realities, she said. For example, DSCA identified opportunities such as offering eligible allies and partners the opportunity to delay planned payments to future years on current procurements, established unique payment plans on procurements currently in development, and returned excess funds currently on deposit with the United States.

Arms sales are a continuance of strong support for the U.S. defense industry and American workers. Up to 1 million of these workers depend on U.S. defense exports for their job security.