Reforming Foreign Defense Sales To Improve

Purpose: To maintain a strong and technologically advanced U.S. military through a dynamic defense industrial base and effective partnerships.

Objectives:

• Strengthen national security and ally capabilities through an improved foreign defense sales system.
• Foster American supply chains, production, and technological development.

Policy Goals:

• Enhance accountability and transparency in foreign defense sales.
• Streamline decision-making in military capability provisions to foreign countries.
• Simplify rules and regulations for foreign defense sales.
• Increase government-industry collaboration for efficiency in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
• Promote U.S. competitiveness by integrating exportability in design and improving financing and contract flexibility.

Actions to be Taken:

• Immediate Actions:

  • Implement past national security policies and reassess existing restrictions on arms transfers.
  • Propose updates to congressional notification thresholds for arms sales.

• Within 60 Days:

  • Develop priority partner lists for conventional arms transfers.
  • Ensure priority items do not harm U.S. military readiness while advancing burden-sharing with allies.

• Annual Reviews:

  • Regular updates to priority partner and military end-item lists.

• Plans to be Submitted:

  • Within 90 days: Improve transparency metrics and technology security processes.
  • Within 120 days: Create a consolidated electronic tracking system for defense sales.

Definitions:

• Parallel Decision-Making: Simultaneous approvals in the FMS process to expedite decision-making.
• Exportability: Incorporating protection features in defense systems for export purposes.
• FMS-Only: Defense articles available exclusively through the FMS process.
• End-Item: The final deployable product.
• Foreign Defense Sales System: The framework for U.S. defense material transfer to international partners.

General Provisions:

• The order does not alter the legal authority of executive branches or create enforceable rights against the U.S. government.