Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James has directed service officials to streamline foreign military sales of Air Force equipment by pre-approving the sales of certain types of equipment and identifying what types of equipment allies should buy. James, speaking Dec. 2 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., said she had returned from a recent trip to partner nations in the Middle East, where allies said they want faster approval to buy more US-made equipment. While speeding up the process requires congressional action, the Air Force can find ways to streamline sales. James has directed Heidi Grant, the service’s deputy undersecretary for international affairs, to develop a strategy to identify capabilities the Air Force would like partners to acquire and find ways to pre-approve some sales. This move could “cut the process down by weeks,” James said. During the recent visits to partner countries, allied services said they also would want more joint training and exercises to build capability for operations, such as the ongoing battle against ISIS. (For more from James’ speech, see also Airmen Integral Part of Expeditionary Targeting Force and Protecting LRS-B.)
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.