Foreign Military Sales: It’s the Relationships
Mark Converse, Bonnie Green, Anthony “Tony” Manich, Rino Pivirotto, CDR Greg Smith, Michael Sears, Tim Heely
As the US military budgets continue to shrink, international military sales will only grow, a panel of experts told The Patuxent Partnership members and guests at the organization’s 20th collaborative panel with the Association of Naval Aviation’s Squadron #18.
The “International Programs: Building Coalition Forces” was introduced by retired RADM Tim Heely who spoke partially as an industry representative.
But RADM Heely was adamant that the military should be receiving a greater return for the part it plays in supporting foreign sales.
Some different perspectives from Mr. Rino Pivirotto, SES, Executive Director, Navy International Programs Office with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy launched remarks from the four panelists. Mr. Pivirotto is responsible for developing, planning, and implementing the Department of the Navy’s International Programs and manages a budget in excess of $150 million per year.
Nevertheless, Mr. Pivirotto emphasized the same bottom line on international military sales as did RADM Heely. “It is about growing global relationships,” Mr. Pivirotto said.
Adding to the importance of building allies, Mr. Pivirotto noted the strategic value to having parts and expertise for American capabilities around the globe. “The acquisition community is important,” he said. It “brings access.”
Panelist Michael Sears, Deputy Program Manager, PMA-299, H-60 International, concurred. Describing the sale of Romeo helicopters to Australia as a 27-month, under-budget success that “added capabilities now beneficial to the Navy.”
Similarly, financial benefits accrue, said Anthony “Tony” Manich, Deputy Assistant Commander for Acquisition, AIR-1.0A, citing the harpoon weapon system developed by Boeing under the Foreign Military Sales Program as an example of the US gaining a needed capability it could not otherwise have afforded.
Wrapping up the panelist remarks, CDR Greg Smith, Royal Navy, Technical Lead, UK JSF Integrated Test Force, spoke directly to the improvements he experiences in working across national lines. “If we build it together, it will work together,” he said.
Using the JSF as his example, he described the more than 6,000 flights of the F-35; more than 9,000 hours has produced a “relatively mature aircraft” that is demonstrating where problems lie, which is what “development tests are suppose to find.. . . Some we’ll need to find a way around, but there is a way around.”
The “interoperability” is beneficial, CDR Smith said of working on platforms as collaborative partners from the beginning.
“Collaboration is not just about making money. You can’t afford not to,” he said.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_YSXpnk0CI]
