US arms sales jumped in fiscal 2022. (Graphic by Breaking Defense)
WASHINGTON — A senior US official is crediting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s aggression in Asia and the waning effects of the COVID pandemic for a drastic leap in foreign military sales last fiscal year.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency reported this week that total US arms transfers for fiscal 2022 totaled about $52 billion, up nearly 50 percent from FY21’s $34.8 billion. DSCA chief James Hursch emphasized Russia and China’s role in boosting the figures.
American allies and partners, he said in a Defense Department report, “see what’s happened in Ukraine. Central European countries, for example, are looking to get some of the same capabilities that have worked well for the Ukrainian army, and to increase their own capabilities for deterrence.” (Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine came about midway through FY22.)
Hursch didn’t expect the trend to stop, as European countries increase their defense budgets. In particular, Hursch said there have been “conversations” about selling modern American equipment to refill stocks of countries that have given or sold Soviet-era equipment to Ukraine.
Meanwhile in Asia, “Allies are looking at China and the situations with China in Asia, and thinking they need to increase their capabilities,” he said.
That also means selling more high-dollar systems, according to Hursch.
“As we continue to improve our equipment, it tends to get more costly. Buying a HIMARS system [M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System], for example, is more expensive than buying a Howitzer,” he said. “And that’s the sort of upgrade that several of our allies and partners are looking to do.”
Deals notified to Congress in FY22, but potentially not yet implemented, include F-15s to Indonesia, Chinooks for Egypt and a new military headquarters in Kuwait.
The lessening effects of the COVID pandemic also played a role, Hursch said, though DSCA is working to “try to decrease bottlenecks” in the acquisition and sustainment pipeline.
“We’ve talked about whether we can improve our ability to forecast demand signals to help the industrial base,” he said. “And we’re putting in place processes — some committees and structures within the department — to try to make sure that we keep this sort of continuous process improvement moving forward.”
DSCA reported that $43.1 billion in sales came from Foreign Military Sales funded by allies and partners, $6.7 billion from Title 22 Foreign Military Financing and $2.2 from the Title 10 Foreign Assistance Act or Building Partner Capacity programs.
Though last year saw a jump, the rolling three-year average calculated by DSCA actually saw a slight dip of 2.7 percent, potentially a lingering effect of pandemic slow-down.
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