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Contact: Jeff Abramson, Non-Resident Senior Fellow for Arms Control and Conventional Arms Transfers, [email protected]

Updated: February 2011

After a dip in proposed arms transfers the previous year, in 2010 the Pentagon notified Congress of an estimated $102.5 billion in proposed, government-to-government, conventional arms transfer agreements with 28 countries, setting a new high that surpasses even the $75 billion proposed in 2008. The total amount presented to Congress was nearly four times higher than the 10-year average from 2000 to 2009 ($27 billion), and two and a half times the comparable 2009 and 2007 figures ($39 billion each).  

The United States conducts government-to-government transfers through the Defense Department’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Not all notified sales result in final transactions. Under the 1976 Arms Export Control Act, Congress must be notified of proposed sales of “major defense equipment,” as defined on the U.S. Munitions List, that equals or exceeds $14 million; defense articles and services that are not defined as “major defense equipment” which total $50 million or more; and construction or design services amounting to or surpassing $200 million.[1] However, if the proposed sale involves NATO members, Australia, Israel, Japan, South Korea, or New Zealand, the notification thresholds are $25 million for major defense equipment, $100 million for other defense articles and services, and $300 million for construction or design services.[2] Once notified, Congress has 30 calendar days (15 in the case of NATO members, Australia, Israel, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand) to block a sale by passing a joint resolution of disapproval, though it has never stopped a sale once formally notified.

The total amount in 2010 is heavily influenced by $60.1 billion in proposed arms transfers to Saudi Arabia (see ACT, December 2010) including 84 F15-SA multi-role aircraft, equipment for the upgrade of 70 Saudi F15-S aircraft, 70 AH-64D Block III Apache Longbow helicopters, and 72 UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters, as well as AH-6i and MD-530F light helicopters.  Present in the packages are 300 Sidewinder and 500 AMRAAM missiles, 400 air-launched Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and 600 HARM missiles, plus thousands of Hellfire IIs, and 150 infantry operable Javelin anti-tank missiles. The sale of thousands of laser and GPS guided bombs were also proposed including 1,100 Paveway IIIs and 1,000 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) units, both of the 2,000-pound variety. Included as well were 1,300 units of the CBU-105D/B Sensor Fuzed Weapon/Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser, a cluster bomb of the type banned by the Convention on Cluster Munitions but which is still sold by the United States as permitted by its own policies. Saudi Arabia last proposed significant FMS purchases in 2008 ($2.9 billion), and had also been the largest proposed recipient of U.S. arms transfers in 2006 ($11.3 billion).

Saudi Arabia was not the only state in the Middle East that sought new arms and armaments in 2010, with the United Arab Emirates ($5.4 billion), Iraq ($4.9 billion), Oman ($3.6 billion), Israel ($2.0 billion), and Kuwait ($1.6 billion) all expressing interest in purchases. Helicopters, their parts, and their servicing constituted a significant proportion of global proposed sales [3]; the U.A.E. followed in its neighbor’s footsteps in ordering 60 Apache Longbows. Iraq proposed new requests for 18 F-16IQ aircraft, ammunition for its M1A1 tanks, and refurbishment of 440 M113A2 Armored Personnel Carriers. Oman likewise sought to reinforce its air force, putting forward plans to buy 18 F16 Block 50/52 aircraft. Israel’s requested package was limited to the purchase of gasoline for its ground forces and jet fuel. As a percentage of overall proposed sales, requests from Middle Eastern states rose from around 68 percent in 2009 to 78 percent in 2010.

Early in the year the proposed sale of 60 UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters along with 114 PATRIOT Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles to Taiwan was finally presented to Congress after nearly a decade of negotiations (see ACT, March 2010). The package drew the ire of mainland China, despite the omission of the diesel submarines and F16C/D fighter aircraft originally intended as a core part of the deal. The total value of intended U.S. sales to Taipei amounted to $6.4 billion, matching 2008 figures. Harpoon missiles again featured as they did two years earlier but on a much smaller scale, with only the purchase of a dozen proposed. Two OSPREY class mine-hunting ships were also requested. In reaction to the proposed sale, China cut strategic military dialogue talks with the United States for nearly a year.  

The U.S. government also proposed several large sales to India during the year, amounting to $8.0 billion. 145 units of the M777 155mm light towed Howitzer were requested as part of an extended artillery modernization program, as well as 10 C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft. New Delhi also sought parts and weapons systems for 22 Apache Longbow helicopters and 21 Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles for the P-8I maritime patrol aircraft. Unlike many other notifications, the proposed sale of Apache helicopters was made in advance of an official letter of request from India. Instead, it was submitted as part of an international competition so that, “in the event that the…[U.S.] proposal is selected, the United States might move as quickly as possible to implement the sale,” according to the notification. As of year’s end, India had not announced whether the U.S. bid was accepted. In 2009, a similar speculative notification was made for Super Hornet fighter aircraft for Brazil, which still had not decided how to proceed as of the end of 2010.

Below are the five countries that sought the highest values in U.S. arms exports in 2010 and some of their specific requests.

Below are all 28 countries that sought U.S. arms exports in 2010 according to FMS notifications and the total value of their identified requests (in billions of U.S. dollars):

Below are the total values of all notified requests each yearfrom 1997 to 2010 in billions of U.S. dollars as compiled each year, in current dollars (unadjusted for inflation):

Xiaodon Liang assisted in the research and writing of this fact sheet.

ENDNOTES
1. The Department of State is also required to report to Congress any commercial sales it approves of “major defense equipment” that amount to $14 million or more, defense articles and services that equal or exceed $50 million, and any items defined as “significant military equipment.” As in the case of FMS sales, Congress can block the sale with a joint resolution of disapproval within 30 calendar days of notification (15 in the case of NATO members, Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea). There are no official compilations of commercial agreement data comparable to the FMS notifications and what exists is often incomplete and less precise than data on government-to-government transactions (Grimmett, Richard F., Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2001-2009, Washington, D.C., Congressional Research Service, September 10, 2010, p. 23). The annual Section 655 report, prepared by the State and Defense Departments for Congress, details commercial licenses approved, but states have four years to act under the licenses. The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls has final responsibility for license applications for commercial defense trade exports and all issues related to defense trade compliance, enforcement, and reporting.

2. Congress approved the higher notification thresholds for NATO members, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand in legislation passed in September 2002. South Korea was added to this list in 2008, and Israel was added in 2010.

3. Helicopter related (units, engines, parts, support, electronics, and training) requests were proposed by Australia, Colombia, Denmark, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Sources: Congressional Research Service, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and Department of State.