FMS more than just hardware

  • Published
  • By Mike W. Ray
  • Tinker Public Affairs
 Foreign Military Sales involve more than bombs and bullets.

It includes support equipment and flight line vehicles, instrument landing equipment and radar systems, maintenance and specialized training -- "much more than end items," said Brig. Gen. James Haywood, director of the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate. "It's a variety of things."

The general manages a staff that administers a $128.3 billion Air Force portfolio supporting FMS to 100 countries and nine NATO organizations.

When discussing Foreign Military Sales, "I talk about capabilities and capacity," the general said. "To have capacity, you must talk in terms of capability." That entails more than just hardware, he said. "It's the infrastructure that supports that hardware. That includes the training for the people, the logistics, the sustainment, the parts supply."

Building partnership capacity and enduring relationships, "that's what we're after," he said. "It's ensuring that we've got reliable capability in place so that, in time of need, our foreign partners can exercise that capability -- an interoperable capability."

FMS more than just hardware

  • Published
  • By Mike W. Ray
  • Tinker Public Affairs
 Foreign Military Sales involve more than bombs and bullets.

It includes support equipment and flight line vehicles, instrument landing equipment and radar systems, maintenance and specialized training -- "much more than end items," said Brig. Gen. James Haywood, director of the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate. "It's a variety of things."

The general manages a staff that administers a $128.3 billion Air Force portfolio supporting FMS to 100 countries and nine NATO organizations.

When discussing Foreign Military Sales, "I talk about capabilities and capacity," the general said. "To have capacity, you must talk in terms of capability." That entails more than just hardware, he said. "It's the infrastructure that supports that hardware. That includes the training for the people, the logistics, the sustainment, the parts supply."

Building partnership capacity and enduring relationships, "that's what we're after," he said. "It's ensuring that we've got reliable capability in place so that, in time of need, our foreign partners can exercise that capability -- an interoperable capability."