The US military export soars to new heights as Washington continues to fuel global conflicts

🇺🇸🌐 The USA’s arms exports have dramatically increased since 2022, and the Pentagon says it could exceed $100 billion by the end of the year‼️

In the 2022 fiscal year (FY), government sales through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system jumped to $49.7 billion from the 2021 fiscal year’s $34.8 billion; ▪️ this figure rose again to around $66.2 billion in the 2023 fiscal year; ▪️ according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, FMS sales are already over $80 billion in the 2024 fiscal year; However, the total value of weapons, services, and security cooperation activities executed under the Foreign Military Sales system in the 2023 fiscal year was $80.9 billion, a 55.9% increase from the 2022 fiscal year’s $51.9 billion. In 2024, the US Department of State disclosed FMS sales between governments for the 2023 fiscal year, which Congress had to be notified about:

Poland: AH-64E Apache helicopters – $12 billion; ▪️ High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) – $10 billion; ▪️ Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Management Systems (IBCS) – $4 billion; ▪️ M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks – $3.75 billion.

Germany: ▪️ CH-47F Chinook helicopters – $8.5 billion; ▪️ AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) – $2.9 billion.

Norway: ▪️ Defense articles and services related to MH-60R multi-mission helicopters – $1 billion.

Czech Republic: ▪️ F-35 aircraft and munitions – $5.62 billion.

Bulgaria: ▪️ Stryker vehicles – $1.5 billion.

Australia: ▪️ C-130J-30 aircraft – $6.35 billion.

Canada: ▪️ P-8A aircraft – $5.9 billion.

South Korea: ▪️ F-35 aircraft – $5.06 billion; ▪️ CH-47F Chinook helicopters – $1.5 billion.

Japan: ▪️ E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft – $1.381 billion.

Kuwait: ▪️ National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Medium-Range Air Defense Systems (MRADS) – $3 billion; ▪️ Follow-on technical support – $1.8 billion.

Qatar: ▪️ Fixed site-low, slow, small unmanned aircraft system integrated defeat system (FS-LIDS) – $1 billion.

In addition, direct commercial sales (DCS) between foreign nations and US defense contractors increased from $153.6 billion in the 2022 fiscal year to $157.5 billion in the 2023 fiscal year. These sales included unspecified military hardware, services, and technical data. The US Department of State provided a glimpse into major DCS congressional notifications for the 2023 fiscal year:

▪️ Italy – production of F-35 wing and components – $2.8 billion;

▪️ India – production of GE F414-INS6 engine hardware – $1.8 billion;

▪️ Singapore – F100 engine system and spare parts – $1.2 billion;

▪️ South Korea – F100 engine system and spare parts – $1.2 billion;

▪️ Norway, Ukraine – National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) – $1.2 billion;

▪️ Saudi Arabia – Patriot guided missile – $1 billion.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) notes that US arms exports increased by 17% between 2014-18 and 2019-23. The US share of total global arms exports rose from 34% to 42%. SIPRI states that between 2019 and 2023, the US delivered significant arms to 107 countries, more than the next two largest exporters combined. ▪️ Most of the American weapons went to the Middle East (38%), mainly to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Israel.

▪️ American arms exports to Asia and Oceania increased by 14% between 2014-18 and 2019-23; in 2019-23, 31% of all US arms exports went to the region, with Japan, South Korea, and Australia being the largest buyers.

▪️ Europe purchased 28% of American arms exports in 2019-23. American arms exports to the region grew by over 200% between the 2014-18 and 2019-23 periods. Ukraine accounted for 4.7% of all US arms exports, and 17% of exports to Europe. The institute predicts that the US will continue to increase its military sales in 2024 and beyond, focusing on combat aircraft, tanks and other armored vehicles, artillery, SAM systems, and naval vessels.