State Dept. Pauses New Arms Exports; UAE, Saudi Deals Hanging

WASHINGTON: The State Department has temporarily halted new sales of weapons to allies to allow the Biden administration to take stock of recent deals and those that it might want to push, or slow down in the future.

The defense industry was advised of the pause earlier this week, an industry source confirmed, portraying it as not out of the ordinary during the transition to a new administration. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was confirmed Tuesday by the Senate, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was confirmed on Jan. 22, so it’s likely both will want to review pending and new deals.

A State spokesman said today that the department “is temporarily pausing the implementation of some pending U.S. defense transfers and sales under Foreign Military Sales and Direct Commercial Sales to allow incoming leadership an opportunity to review.”  

One deal likely high up on the list for reviews is the $23.3 billion arms package that was finalized with the UAE on Jan. 20 — inauguration day — just before President Joe Biden was sworn in. The deal includes 50 F-35A fighters worth $10.4 billion, 18 MQ-9B drones at $2.97 billion, and $10 billion worth of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions. The entire package drew sharp criticism from some lawmakers, who worried about the possible erosion of Israeli military supremacy in the region.

During his Senate confirmation hearing last week, Blinken suggested the new administration would take a tougher stance on Saudi Arabia and UAE over their involvement in the bloody civil war in Yemen. He told lawmakers that the Biden administration would “end our support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.”

Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Blinken portrayed the review as a routine matter at the start of a new administration. “When it comes to arm sales, it is typical at the start of an administration to review any pending sales to make sure that what is being considered is something that advances our strategic objectives and advances our foreign policy,” he said. “So that’s what we’re doing.”

Other hints have materialized that the new administration has started to move out on reordering its priorities when it comes to weapons sales. On an earnings call this week, Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes said the company had scratched a potential $519 million sale of an “offensive weapon system” to a “customer in the Middle East.” 

Executives at Raytheon “had assumed that we were going to get a license to provide these offensive weapon systems to our customer,” Hayes continued, but “with the change in administration, it becomes less likely that we’re going to be able to get a license for this.” 

Sales of US-made weapons to foreign partners grew to $175 billion in fiscal 2020, bolstered by a few mega-deals like the $23 billion sale to Japan of 63 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin.

In 2018, the Trump administration rolled out a “Buy America” effort that rolled back some restrictions on military sales, especially for things like drones, and direct more US officials to play a bigger role in promoting US weapons arms exports.