Arlington, Va. (Feb. 23, 2023) – The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO Eric Fanning today released the following statement on the Biden Administration’s release of new Conventional Arms Transfer policy:
“The Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) policy is a critical signal to U.S. industry, partners and allies, and stakeholders on how the U.S. government handles arms transfers. AIA and the U.S. aerospace and defense industry welcome the release of the updated policy by the Biden Administration.
“The one-year anniversary of the brutal fighting in Ukraine reminds us of the global sense of urgency needed to address simultaneous threats to peace and security. The U.S. will now transition from giving weapons to Ukraine to selling weapons to Ukraine, while also restocking U.S. supplies and further outfitting our partners and allies to address pacing threats in the Indo-Pacific. The arms transfer process is too slow and impedes our ability to get critical capabilities delivered when and where they are needed the most. Time is of the essence; a clear and unambiguous CAT policy is essential to meeting the urgency of the moment.
“We simply must reduce the time it takes to make critical arms transfer decisions. The CAT policy’s modernization and supply chain resiliency goals, along with the Department of Defense’s ‘Tiger Team’ and other ongoing government assessments, are a good start. However, we need urgent, senior-level action. Our industry has provided clear and actionable recommendations to improve the arms transfer process, and we remain hopeful those recommendations will be taken up with immediate effect.
“We look forward to our ongoing work with the U.S. government, the Congress, partners and allies, and other stakeholders on finding ways to improve the overall arms transfer process to meet the peace and security challenges of our time.”
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