Waste of the Day: U.S. Not Monitoring Foreign Weapons Sales

Topline: In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. sold a record $118 billion in military supplies and services to foreign allies, but Congress has no way of knowing if all the equipment is being used for its intended purpose, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Foreign customers can easily violate weapons sales agreements

Key facts: There are several ways a foreign partner could violate their agreement for using American military equipment. An airplane meant for surveillance might be illegally equipped with weapons, for example, or a missile could be missing without explanation. U.S. allies could also transfer the equipment to a third party — a private company or another country — without permission.

The Department of Defense is supposed to report these incidents to the Department of State so it can inform Congress, if necessary, but the chain of communication is broken, according to the GAO. The State Department has not clearly defined exactly what qualifies as an “incident,” and there is no set timeline for how often the DOD should issue reports to the State Department.

Twelve times, State and DOD officials learned about incidents from news sources like CNN or The New York Times instead of from their own monitoring. Fifteen other times, the DOD and State Department only knew about an incident because a foreign country self-reported it.

There is also no organized system for tracking the incidents. The DOD has a database listing 158 potential violations since 2022, but there are other incidents missing. The State Department could not provide auditors with a full list of incidents since 2019. The GAO explained “Officials told us that they do not document their findings for most completed investigations.”

Weapons sold to foreign countries that already have violated their agreements

Since 2019, the U.S. has sold at least $46 billion in weaponry to countries that were already under investigation for potentially violating past weapons agreements, the GAO found.

The State Department is currently investigating 58 alleged incidents to determine if the U.S. needs to take action, but 23 of them already have been under investigation for three years.

If a violation is confirmed, or a “substantial” violation even suspected, the State Department is required to inform Congress. This has happened only three times since 2019. For over 150 other incidents, there are no records showing the State Department ever considered whether or not it should inform Congress.

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Background: The U.S. sold $81 billion in military equipment in fiscal year 2023 and increased its sales by 46% the next year, to $118 billion. The largest sales in 2024 included aircraft for Turkey ($23 billion), Israel ($18.8 billion) and Romania ($7.2 billion). Saudi Arabia received $2.8 billion of “system logistics and sustainment support” and $1 billion worth of training.

Summary: The U.S. is bringing in revenue by selling weapons, but it was American taxpayers who funded the purchase of those weapons in the first place. It’s crucial they are used only in a way that safeguards domestic security.

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This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.