By Andrew Chuter
SINGAPORE — Britain is hoping to profit from a growing tendency by some nations in the Asian region to dual-source their purchases of defense capability rather than rely on the US for equipment, said the boss of the the UK Government arms export agency.
“A number of countries which traditionally for decades have been Foreign Military Sales FMS] customers of the US government sometimes for entire air forces or navies now want to add to that capability with someone else as a partner,” Stephen Phipson, the head of the Defence and Security Organisation (DSO), told reporters during a briefing at the Singapore Airshow Wednesday.
“We are seeing an increasing pipeline of opportunity as the threat picture evolves for nations who do not want just to be dependent on US for capability but want to partner with other countries for additional capability,” said the DSO head.
Phipson said a good example is the growth of indigenous fighter programs in places like South Korea, Japan and Turkey.
Countries that traditionally buy through FMS want more capability that is not separate to the US but additional to it; the change in buying habit gives British exporter a great opportunity, he said.
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