Jane Edwards
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and other arms manufacturers on Monday commended at the Farnborough Airshow in the U.K. the U.S. government’s move to ramp up international weapons sales through a weapons export policy, Reuters reported Tuesday.
Weapons makers added that they expect defense spending in Europe to rise in the coming years.
The State Department on Monday announced President Donald Trump’s approval of the implementation plan for the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy unveiled in April.
The department said the plan provides “a whole-of-government strategy to better align our conventional arms transfers with our national security and economic interests†and is based on three lines of effort: prioritization of strategic competition; organization; and creation of conducive environments.
The agency also listed some of the tasks to carry out under the implementation plan and those include support for the defense sector through the expansion of trade promotion and U.S. government advocacy and the need to provide allies with alternatives to foreign defense articles to compete with adversaries.
“We are gratified to see our recommendations for strategic focus, whole of government coordination and enhanced accountability feature prominently,†Eric Fanning, CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, said of the implementation plan.
AIA submitted in June recommendations for the department’s action plan to facilitate the policy’s implementation.
