The Defense Security Cooperation* Agency (DSCA), as part of the United States Department of Defense is responsible for administering the Department of Defense's Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program.
What is meant by Security Cooperation? The Department of Defense (DoD) broadly defines Security
Cooperation (SC) as those activities conducted with allies and friendly
nations to: Build relationships that promote specified U.S.
interests Build allied and friendly nation capabilities for
self-defense and coalition operations Provide U.S. forces with peacetime and contingency
access
Who Manages the Security Assistance Details? The U.S. Congress establishes the laws, authorizes
programs, appropriates funds, and has an oversight role in Security
Assistance. The
principal legislated responsibilities fall to the Department of State (DoS)
and Department of Defense (DoD). The Secretary of State provides continuous supervision
and general direction for
Security Assistance, including determining whether what
Security Assistance programs a given country will have, as
well as their scope and content. The Secretary of Defense implements programs to transfer
defense articles and services on a government-to-government basis. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) is the
principal
Department of Defense organization through which the Secretary
of Defense carries out
responsibilities for
Security Assistance. Within
the Department of Defense, the Military Departments
and other implementing agencies manage individual country programs,
including the development of Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOA),
and the delivery of defense articles and services under the
Letter of Offer and Acceptance.
Financial management of accepted
Letters of Offer and Acceptance is a responsibility of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). Usually a Security Assistance Organization (SAO), under
the direction of the chief of the U.S. diplomatic mission, conducts the
in-country management of each recipient nation's
Security Assistance programs. The
Security Assistance Organization
provides this oversight in conjunction with its host nation
counterparts, the country team within the diplomatic mission, the
Regional Combatant Commander (COCOM) of the Unified Command, the Office
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), The Defense Security Cooperation
Agency, and the Military Departments.
How Does the Sale of Military items Operate? Foreign Military Sales are managed and operated by
the Department of Defense on a no-profit and
no-loss basis. Countries and international organizations participating
in the program pay for defense articles and services at prices that
recoup the actual costs incurred by the United States. This includes a
fee (currently 3.8% of what the defense articles and/or services cost,
in most instances) to cover the cost of administering the program. Letters of Offer and Acceptance take three forms: Defined Line. Certain defense articles and services can be provided only
on Defined Line
Letters of Offer and Acceptance, which offer items at individually estimated prices
and delivery dates. The U.S. Government, where necessary, in turn
contracts for the defense articles and services that are required to
fulfill the
Letters of Offer and Acceptance. Blanket Order. Most repair parts and routine services can be offered
under Blanket Order
Letters of Offer and Acceptance. These
Letters
of Offer and Acceptance are perfectly suited for addressing
recurring needs (i.e., where the customer will require additional
defense articles or services on a periodic or frequent basis). Once
established, the Blanket Order
Letters
of Offer and Acceptance reduces the time needed for
processing an order and contracting for the items and/or services
required. Cooperative Logistics Supply Support Arrangement (CLSSA). Under the CLSSA, the customer acquires access to the U.S. logistics pipeline for
the support of specified end items. This allows supply of repair parts
from existing U.S. stocks, without waiting for completion of a
procurement cycle. CLSSAs are normally established for countries with
well-developed logistics systems and with larger quantities of end items
to be supported.
What is Available Under the Security Assistance Programs? Defense articles, including major defense systems,
subsystems, support equipment, repair parts, and publications are
available under Security Assistance. Defense services, including training in U.S.
military schools or through mobile training teams, construction,
engineering, contract administration, program management, technical
support, and repair are also available. To encourage standardization and
interoperability among U.S. and Service Assistance countries, Foreign
Military Sales normally involves the
transfer of those articles that have been fielded by U.S. forces. While
sometimes available through Foreign Military Sales, nonstandard articles or services are
normally acquired commercially.
What is the difference Between Foreign Military Sales and Direct Commercial Sale of U.S. Defense
Articles or Services? The United States,
With few exceptions, does not care whether a
foreign enity acquires its defense articles and services under
Foreign Military Sales (FMS) or through
Direct Commercial Sales (DCS). Direct commercial sales: Direct
commercial sales are negotiated by US companies and foreign
buyers, without the involvement of the Pentagon. These sales must be
approved by the State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls,
through the provision of an export license, and they are subject to the
same congressional notification procedure as FMS. Most public and policy
attention focuses on FMS, since this program is much more visible and
has accounted for the majority of US arms exports over the years. But
industry-direct shipments surpassed government-negotiated transfers in
1989 and have been valued at several billion dollars annually during the
1990s. Foreign Military Sales: Foreign governments also buy new and used weapons and
services directly from the US government. These agreements are
negotiated by the Pentagon. In addition to weapons, the Pentagon will
also contract to deliver the goods, provide training in the operation
and maintenance of the weapon, supply spare parts and give performance
assurances. The military articles being sold through this program can
come from either Pentagon stocks or new production. In the latter case,
the Defense Department contracts with U.S. arms manufacturers to
actually build the weapons and, in some cases, provide related services. Researching FMS The Pentagon publishes press advisories about
proposed sales on its Internet site
(www.defenselink.mil/news)
at the same time that it notifies Congress of its intention to
offer a contract to a foreign government. This press release
usually discloses the weapon make and model, the principal
manufacturer, the quantity to be delivered and the price. A more
detailed version of the notice is published a few days later in
the Federal Register.
This four-page notice includes the official justification for
the sale. Several specialty publications and their associated
web pages-such as Arms Control Today, Arms Sales Monitor, Arms
Trade News and Defense News-also report these sales
notifications. Even the mainstream press sometimes reports on
congressional notifications of major government-to-government
sales. Keep in mind that the preceding sources report on
potential sales-not on signed contracts. To find out how much (in dollar terms) the US
government actually contracted to sell and/or delivered to a
particular government in each of the preceding ten years consult
Foreign Military Sales Facts, published annually by the DSAA. To find out which specific weapons were
delivered to a particular foreign government through FMS in the
previous fiscal year, a new annual report prepared by the
Defense and State Departments known as the "Section 655" report.
(Section 655 of the Foreign Assistance Act mandates preparation
of the report.) From this document you can learn (for example)
that Israel took delivery of 4,698 rifles from the United States
in 1996. You can always file a specific request with the
Pentagon under the Freedom of Information Act. Quarterly reports
from the Pentagon to Congress which are required by the Arms
Export Control Act (Sections 25(a) and 36(a)) are another source
of information. In general, Letters of Assistance promote standardization (by providing customers with
defense articles identical to those used by U.S. forces), provide
contract administration services which may not be readily available
otherwise, and potentially help lower costs by consolidating Foreign
Military Sales buys
with U.S. purchases. Direct Commercial Sales allow the purchaser more direct interface
during contract negotiation (and likely more opportunity for firm-fixed
priced contracting), and acquire non-standard defense articles where
special requirements demand tailoring the articles to meet a particular
need. Although the extent of Department of Defense involvement is different, technology release
approvals, and third country transfer approval requirements are the same
for both methods of purchase.
* Cooperation or co-operation is the process of working or acting together,
which can be accomplished by both intentional and non-intentional
agents. In its simplest form it involves things working in harmony, side
by side, while in its more complicated forms, it can involve something
as complex as the inner workings of a human being or even the social
patterns of a nation. It is the alternative to working separately in
competition. BACK
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