U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Michael Kurilla has recommended that U.S. lawmakers enable the Department of Defense to award multiyear contracts more often to encourage long-term investments in production capacities. He noted that under-investing in the defense industrial base is a significant bottleneck for the United States to meet its partner countries’ demand for military supplies, Breaking Defense reported Friday.
Competition From China
In testimony at a recent House Armed Services committee hearing, the general warned that if the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program fails to satisfy the demand from allies’ procurement, “China will fill them.” Kurilla said Beijing can woo U.S. partners with perks such as financing, free deliveries and unconditional user agreements.
Besides the U.S. defense industrial base challenge, the CENTCOM commander noted the difficulties involving three entities in the FMS process: the departments of Defense and State and Congress.
The DOD system itself requires reform, with sales negotiations under the department sometimes lasting up to a year, Kurilla said. While the State Department is generally fairly fast in its diplomatic FMS due diligence, Congress can delay the FMS process for “whatever reason,” he noted.
Complete FMS Overhaul
According to Kurilla, a complete FMS overhaul is necessary to achieve real progress. “We’ve had dozens of task forces to look at FMS, and I have not seen much change,” he said.
A GovCon Wire report in August 2024 said DOD has reportedly been reconfiguring its FMS approaches for the last 20 years, with Russia’s Ukraine invasion in 2022 adding pressure and relevance to the issue.