According to the State Department’s Fiscal Year 2023 U.S. Arms Transfers and Defense Trade report, the U.S. had $80.9 billion in foreign weapons sales under the Foreign Military Sales system last year, a 55 percent increase from the $51.9 billion sold in 2022. “This is the highest annual total of sales and assistance provided to our allies and partners,” the State Department said in the report. The nearly $81 billion figure includes $62.25 billion in arms sales to U.S. allies and partner nations, $3.97 billion funded through the Title 22 Foreign Military Financing Program, and $12.68 billion funded through other State Department programs (i.e., International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, and other programs). The three-year rolling average value for arms sales saw a 21.9 percent increase. Total sales of U.S. weapons in 2023 rose 12 percent to a record $238 billion. Analysts predict that the trend will continue throughout fiscal year 2024 as unrest in regions like Ukraine, the Middle East, and Asia incentivize countries to increase military spending and replenish stock, which could potentially favor U.S. arms exports. “Arms transfers and defense trade are important US foreign policy tools with potential long-term implications for regional and global security,” the State Department said. Roughly $30 billion in sales — combining the biggest deals — were for equipment that was provided to Poland and Germany, as NATO re-stocks weapons in the conflict with Russia over Ukraine. “The Russian defense industry is failing and continues to fail,” Mira Resnick, who runs the State Department’s Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers,” told POLITICO. “We see that because Russia’s defense industry is denied the resources that come from exports, that helps to contribute to Russian strategic failure on the battlefield,” Resnick said. “We are seeing in the ‘Global South’ real tough decisions by partners to move away from Russian equipment. We would love to see more from India on this and we continue to work and explore different defensive trade opportunities with India.”U.S. weapons sales overseas surged last year to a historic high.
