Foreign military sales programs highlighted to industry

  • Published
  • By Patty Welsh
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
LEXINGTON, Mass. --  International and Foreign Military Sales programs were the topic of discussion during the Hanscom Representatives Association meeting here Oct. 13.

Speaking to a primarily industry audience, Steve Bessette, system program manager for the FMS division in the Battle Management Directorate at Hanscom Air Force Base, discussed ongoing and upcoming opportunities, along with some associated challenges.

Some of the issues he highlighted included: FMS case approvals don't tend to move fast, customer requirements tend to change over time, evolving U.S. interoperability requirements to include Risk Management Framework and Governance Risk Compliance  requirements,  and demanding customers.

Integration can often be an issue, he added, saying that interoperability and cross-domain solutions are areas where he expects to see FMS program opportunities and growth.

"FMS efforts tend to be user/customer-driven," he said. "Relationship building is imperative to program success."

He added that having the customers agree to program requirements and funding is step one to developing an FMS case. Bessette said that his office has developed various tools and processes to better service customers. As a result, efficiencies in developing new case efforts have been realized.

Currently, Bessette' s office handles work relating to ground-based radars, integrated air and missile defense, command and control, communications, data links and cyber work. He described the office as similar to a "basket system program office," where many disparate programs are managed. And in their case, not only programs, but cases and counties as well.

His office is currently managing 35 FMS cases for 18 different countries. 

Some upcoming projects he spoke about included Royal Saudi Air Force C4I Modernization, Qatar Early Warning Radar, Qatar Air Operations Center, Qatar Cyber Protection, Egypt Border Security and Iraq Long Range Radar and Troposcatter efforts. For the RSAF C4I modernization project, Bessette said they'd be looking to leverage similar IAMD efforts in the region for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And for the Iraq Troposcatter effort, he said the customer is looking for an alternate to its wide area network for distributing data.

He also mentioned that his office is responsible for various sustainment cases.

"This is important work," Bessette said. "It's important to keep the systems operational."  

He emphasized that FMS work is a critical piece of Battle Management's total mission. He pointed out that within the Battle Management Directorate, other divisions and branches such as the Airborne Warning and Control System, AWACS, also deal with foreign military sales.

"FMS efforts associated with the portfolio include a significant amount of dollars and a significant amount of cases," he said.