The State Department has revealed that foreign military sales of defense weapons has increased to $192.3B in fiscal year 2018, due to the implementation of a new conventional arms initiative.
The department said Thursday government-to-government export sales rose to $55.66B in 2018 from $41.93B in 2017, while commercial FMS increased to $136.6B this year compared to $128.1B in the previous year.
The escalation in FMS for weapons emerged from the execution of President Trump’s Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, which aligns with the State Department’s plans to reform the arms transfers process.
The departments of Commerce and Defense and the private sector are contributing to the implementation of the CAT Policy, as well as modifying outdated rules on weapons to ultimately comply to Trump’s National Security Strategy.
The president issued the CAT Policy in April in an effort to support U.S. economic and national security interests and abide to the Arms Export Control Act of 1976.