New arms strategy helps America, allies, amid war in Iran
The war with Iran has made it clear: the United States’ allies’ broad use of American defense capabilities exponentially boosts our nation’s capacity to inflict damage on our adversaries.
Amid the deluge of headlines on the war and the global economy, this dynamic has been overlooked.
It shouldn’t be.
For our allies, our armed forces, and our security at home, the essential element has been and will be the American industrial base serving as the arsenal of democracy. Ensuring our industrial base supports our warfighters and their allies, and rapidly meets capabilities and capacity demands, requires sustained research & development and capital expenditures.
With this in mind, the recent Presidential Executive Order (EO) on “Establishing an America First Arms Transfer Strategy” takes substantive steps to meaningfully boost American industrial capacity, production, and economic security – by modernizing the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process. This new approach shifts the focus of FMS to ensure our allies invest in our industrial capacity as much as they benefit from it.
The EO is not a standalone document. It builds on the Executive Order on “Reforming Foreign Defense Sales to Improve Speed and Accountability” as well as the Secretary of War’s Memo on “Unifying the Department’s Arms Transfer and Security Cooperation Enterprise to Improve Efficiency and Enable Burden-Sharing.” Together, these policy directives shift the focus of FMS from serving as a diplomatic tool to strengthening the American industrial base and rapidly delivering a greater volume of capabilities to defend the United States and enable our Allies and partners to do their part in regional security. Congressional embrace of this strategic sea-change is very much warranted.
In practice, the President’s EO benefits all stakeholders. It shifts the emphasis from simply filling capability gaps to facilitating true global burden sharing, strengthening allies so they can defend themselves – in concert with the United States. We are seeing the fruits of this approach now, in the war against Iran, where a range of regional Mideast partners are supporting American and Israeli efforts. This approach will be equally essential to deterring and defeating adversaries in the future.
What’s In the EO For America’s Friends?
While the EO prioritizes partners who invest in their own defense and play critical roles in U.S. plans and operations, it also affirms American reliability in delivering capabilities with speed and efficiency. The directive reiterates commitments to sovereign development, local presence, co-production, and collaborations with national industry leaders, all without altering their roles as stable, long-term supporters of American national security.
As implementation proceeds, emphasizing dialogue remains extremely important. Engaging partners on their priorities to co-shape outcomes, rather than acting unilaterally, is critical. This will yield faster access to systems and munitions, better schedules, and mutual benefits for defense needs. It also conveys respect where it is due, something which never hurts.
History shows that strategic support to allies pays direct dividends in security and prosperity. For defense leaders charting production paths, Hill staffers shaping policy, and administration officials driving execution, this EO offers a pragmatic framework to build a stronger America through trusted partnerships.
Modernizing The FMS Process
It’s no secret that the old FMS system stood to be improved. A one-size-fits-all approach subjected trusted partners to the same rigorous reviews as less-aligned nations. Coupled with unadjusted congressional notification thresholds that hadn’t accounted for inflation in over two decades, this has led to unnecessary scrutiny on cases and delivery delays.
While the system was due for an update, the new EO recognizes that a truly effective FMS system is one that will serve America well beyond the political ecosystem of a single administration. The changes now being implemented reflect this; they are strategic tools that prioritize arms transfers that draw foreign capital into domestic production.
How so? By allowing international sales to subsidize U.S. manufacturing, the EO aims to drive down unit costs for weapons systems and fund upgrades for modernization, obsolescence mitigation, and performance improvements.
Global demand fosters economies of scale, often kickstarting production surges for critical munitions and capabilities. This strengthens the domestic industrial base, aligning with priorities to reindustrialize America, promote innovation among traditional and nontraditional companies, and most importantly of all, employ more American workers.
As the EO directs, agencies like the Departments of War, State, and Commerce will coordinate to identify sales opportunities that build supply chain resilience and avoid backlogs. Strategically, these partnerships enhance operational resilience. Diversified production and co-production arrangements improve supply chain durability against disruptions. Forward-deployed and prepositioned capabilities in key regions — especially in Europe, across NATO, and in the Indo-Pacific — position assets closer to potential theaters. This, in turn, strengthens deterrence because it means responses to aggression come faster. The “time to consequence” for an aggressor shrinks.
This approach dovetails with Congressional goals by streamlining the FMS process and expediting deliveries. It cuts bureaucratic hurdles, as outlined in directives for a prioritized sales catalog, industry engagement plans, and quarterly performance metrics. By establishing the Promoting American Military Sales Task Force, the EO additionally advances the accountability and coordination desired by Congress.
This new road ahead for FMS is great news for the U.S. Armed Forces and those who work in the factories that produce their weapons.
It’s terrible news for adversaries in Tehran, Moscow, Pyongyang, and Beijing.
FMS modernization bolsters our Allies’ ability to defend themselves and serve alongside our forces. At the same time, their purchases will boost the American economy and national security. Congress does well to support this policy in both practice and in the National Defense Authorization Act to be crafted this Spring. Equally, industry must do its part in research & development and capital expenditures. This deliberate expansion of U.S. industrial capacity is aligned with common sense and American interests across constituencies.
Jeff Kojac is the Director of Studies for the Greg & Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting within the Costello College of Business at George Mason University.