The U.S. government is working hard to ensure quicker processing of U.S. foreign arms sales, which surged 36 percent to $46.6 billion in fiscal 2015 and look set to remain strong in coming years, a top Pentagon official said.
“Projections are still strong,” Vice Admiral Joe Rixey, who heads the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), told Reuters in an interview late on Monday.
He said the agency was trying to sort out the impact of a much stronger-than-expected fourth quarter as it finalized its forecast for arms sales in fiscal 2016, which began Oct. 1.
The fight against Islamic State militants and other armed conflicts around the globe were fueling demand for U.S. missile defense equipment, helicopters and munitions, Rixey said, a shift from 10 years ago when the focus was on fighter jets.
“It’s worldwide. The demand signal is coming in Europe, in the Pacific and in Centcom,” he said, referring to the U.S. Central Command region, which includes the Middle East and Afghanistan.
U.S. companies and some foreign countries have expressed growing frustration in recent months about delays in arms sales approvals. They argue that the U.S. government has not expanded its capacity to process arms deals despite a big spike in such transaction…Russian and Chinese weapons sales soaring, too.
The world is gearing up for expected war. Well, that's one way to "increase investment."
OAN
U.S. Working To Keep Up With Surging Weapons Demand: Pentagon
Andrea Shalal
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