US military equipment sales hit record high amid global instability

WEB DESK: US military equipment sales to foreign governments in 2024 surged 29 per cent to a record $318.7 billion, the State Department said on Friday, as countries sought to replenish stocks sent to Ukraine and prepare for major conflicts.

The figures from the Biden administration’s final year underpin expectations of stronger sales for US weapons makers like Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), General Dynamics (GD.N), and Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), , whose shares are forecast to climb amid rising global instability.

Arms sales and transfers are viewed as “important US foreign policy tools with potential long-term implications for regional and global security,” the State Department said in a statement.

Sales approved in 2024 included $23 billion worth of F-16 jets and upgrades to Turkey, $18.8 billion worth of F-15 fighter jets to Israel, and $2.5 billion worth of M1A2 Abrams tanks to Romania.

Orders approved in 2024 often go into the order backlog for US weapons makers, which are expecting that orders for hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, hundreds of Patriot missile interceptors, and a surge in orders for armored vehicles will underpin their results in coming quarters.

There are two major ways foreign governments purchase arms from US companies: direct commercial sales negotiated with a company, or foreign military sales in which a government typically contacts a Defense Department official at the US embassy in its capital. Both require US government approval.

Direct military sales by US companies rose to $200.8 billion in fiscal 2024 from $157.5 billion in fiscal 2023, while sales arranged through the US government rose to $117.9 billion in 2024 from $80.9 billion the prior year.

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