Last month, Russia's government proposed new legislation attaching an intellectual property rights clause to foreign military sales agreements.
Under the Papandreou regime, Greece chose not to use hundreds of millions of dollars worth of these U.S. foreign military sales (FMS) credits.
Even within DoD itself, Foreign Military Sales programs are subject to approval by up to five technology-transfer committees, each of which operates on its own schedule.
The development weakening the outlook for foreign military sales is recent unrest in Egypt and Tunisia unrest that calls into question the stability of regional U.S. allies.
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In a region that is looking increasingly unstable, the U.S. as well as many Gulf states and Israel may look to sign more FMS (Foreign Military Sales) contracts.
But smoother skies could be ahead, thanks to prospects for an extended civilian aerospace up-cycle and the little-noted possibility that Boeing could see an increase in foreign military sales.
Worse yet, such unfair competition could destroy the chance offered by foreign military sales to preserve defense industrial capabilities that might otherwise be unsustainable, but which may prove essential to future U.S. national security.
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Curtis Martin, who will also work in the office, said the U.S. foreign military-sales system was designed with strict accountability controls to prevent U.S. weaponry from falling in the wrong hands.
It will try to thwart any congressional effort to restrict further engagement with the Morsi regime, for example by cutting off or conditioning foreign aid and military sales.
The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) allow the president to ban foreign sales of military products and services if he deems it in the national interest.
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It also generates 36 percent of revenues overseas, which is a much higher portion of foreign sales than most military contractors can claim.
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