Aaron Mehta
WASHINGTON — Through the first six months of fiscal 2016, foreign military sales are on track to meet or surpass last year’s total, according to an analysis by the Guggenheim Securities group.
“Through the end of April, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency had announced about $29 billion in FMS cases, and there are a number of pending U.S. fighter aircraft orders that could bump that number up significantly if they are approved by the White House,” Roman Schweizer, the author of the report, wrote.
Regionally, the Middle East is the largest recipient of sales, with $17.6 billion announced so far. Lockheed Martin, with $16.2 billion in announced sales, is the leading contractor.
The assumption of matching or passing last year’s total of $43 billion is based, in part, on the belief that two major deals will go through before the end of the Obama administration.
The first is the finalization of a 10-year military funding plan for Israel, expected to be in the $40 billion to $50 billion range. If the final figure ends up on the higher edge, Israel could seek to add two squadrons of F-15Is. As Schweizer noted, “the finalization of the FMF package could mean a surge in new spending on U.S. systems, including additional buys of Lockheed Martin F-35s, possibly a squadron of Boeing F-15Is, and a long-pending buy of Textron-Boeing MV-22s.”
The second factor is a pair of long-held fighter sales to the Gulf: 73 F-15s to Qatar and 40 F/A-18s to Kuwait. There is a belief that once Israel’s deal is completed, those sales will be allowed to move forward.
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