442 - What are Foreign Military Sales?

2024-01-26

The United States government buys a wide variety of things in a variety of ways. In this episode, we cover one of those unique ways: through Foreign Military Sales (FMS).Under FMS, the US government procures equipment and services for foreign partner nations. These FMS purchases are often referred to as “security assistance” that is part of Foreign Policy to help nations maintain their defense.FMS covers a wide variety of products and services. While this is not something every contracting off...

The United States government buys a wide variety of things in a variety of ways. In this episode, we cover one of those unique ways: through Foreign Military Sales (FMS).

Under FMS, the US government procures equipment and services for foreign partner nations. These FMS purchases are often referred to as “security assistance” that is part of Foreign Policy to help nations maintain their defense.

FMS covers a wide variety of products and services. While this is not something every contracting officers or every contactor touches, it’s a big enough deal that it warrants its own episode. For some context, in FY 2022, FMS sales were over $51 Billion (with a B)…including contracts with both large and small businesses.

Since FMS is still pretty niche, I invited Steve Lucianetti to join me on this episode. Steve is a retired US Navy contracting officer (and a long-time member of the Skyway Acquisition team of contracting officers). Steve has deep FMS experience over his career and I couldn’t imagine doing this episode without his insights and stories.

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