US defense sales internationally totaled $33.6 billion in Fiscal 2016—a large drop from Fiscal 2015’s total of $47 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Tuesday. The 2016 total included $2.9 billion in Foreign Military Financing-funded cases, $5? billion in Building Partner Capacity-funded cases, and $25.7 billion funded by partner nations, DSCA said in a release. While there’s a drop from last year, DSCA Director Vice Adm. Joseph Rixey said the three-year sales averages show a “continuing, growing sales-trend over the last decade.”
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
