Worldwide demand for U.S. defense equipment has increased, yet the U.S. defense industrial base and U.S. government's foreign military sales (FMS) enterprise have limited ability to address all capability needs of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies in a timely manner. The authors propose a conceptual framework for systematic prioritization of FMS to NATO allies in alignment with U.S. and NATO defense priorities in Europe.

Aligning Strategic Priorities and Foreign Military Sales to Fill Critical Capability Gaps

Irina A. Chindea, Jennifer D. P. Moroney, Stephen Webber, Igor M. Brin, David E. Thaler, Ashley L. Rhoades, Anthony Atler, Beth Grill, Paul Cormarie, Jack Lashendock, et al.

ResearchPublished Jul 24, 2024

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the heightening tensions related to China and Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific region have translated into an increase in worldwide demand for U.S. defense equipment. Yet the U.S. defense industrial base and U.S. government's foreign military sales (FMS) enterprise have limited ability to address all the capability needs of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies in a timely manner.

In this report, the authors propose a conceptual framework that would allow the U.S. government to systematically prioritize the FMS cases of countries in the European Command (EUCOM) area of responsibility (AOR) in alignment with U.S. and NATO defense priorities for a ground-based contingency in Europe.

The authors used a qualitative, multimethod approach that combined subject-matter expert interviews and workshops with a literature review of existing scholarly articles, open-source media reporting, and government and think-tank reports for the United States and NATO members. Six NATO allies were selected for in-country field research: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, and Sweden.

In addition to the prioritization framework, this report also presents insights and recommendations regarding the strategic use of other security cooperation tools in support of, or complementary to, FMS, with the aim of advancing U.S. strategic interests in the EUCOM AOR.

Key Findings

  • There is a steep learning curve for novice partners in the FMS process. Although allies and partners with low to moderate FMS experience require more engagement from the U.S. security cooperation enterprise, they tend to improve quickly and realize high payoffs in terms of capability development.
  • NATO allies determine their defense procurement priorities primarily based on their own inventory needs and national interests rather than their relationship with the United States.
  • NATO allies often consider U.S. FMS in relation to alternative procurements they can make from their domestic industries and from other European allies.
  • NATO allies make procurement decisions based on trade-offs among system quality, the time to develop a capability, and overall cost.
  • The United States is a top partner for capability development, and U.S. FMS is valued for NATO interoperability, system quality, and the Total Package Approach.

Recommendations

  • The U.S. Army and Department of Defense should consider adopting and implementing the proposed FMS case prioritization framework to align FMS with U.S. and NATO strategic priorities.
  • U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) should consider taking on a greater role in security cooperation planning and align exercise objectives with FMS cases.
  • USAREUR-AF should establish and support a systematic process for the design phase of proposed procurement programs.
  • USAREUR-AF should leverage U.S. Army training and forces in-theater to advise novice U.S. FMS partners.
  • The U.S. FMS enterprise should establish a Fast-Track option for select allies and defense systems.
  • USAREUR-AF and the Joint Community should coordinate across Army Service Component Commands and with EUCOM to ensure that FMS-provided land capabilities are interoperable with all domains.
  • USAREUR-AF and the Joint Community should integrate and combine multiple types of security cooperation resources to develop partner capabilities.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 2024
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 86
  • Paperback Price: $26.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 1-9774-1350-1
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/RRA2438-2
  • Document Number: RR-A2438-2

Citation

RAND Style Manual

Chindea, Irina A., Jennifer D. P. Moroney, Stephen Webber, Igor M. Brin, David E. Thaler, Ashley L. Rhoades, Anthony Atler, Beth Grill, Paul Cormarie, Jack Lashendock, and Isabelle Winston, Aligning Strategic Priorities and Foreign Military Sales to Fill Critical Capability Gaps, RAND Corporation, RR-A2438-2, 2024. As of April 8, 2025: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2438-2.html

Chicago Manual of Style

Chindea, Irina A., Jennifer D. P. Moroney, Stephen Webber, Igor M. Brin, David E. Thaler, Ashley L. Rhoades, Anthony Atler, Beth Grill, Paul Cormarie, Jack Lashendock, and Isabelle Winston, Aligning Strategic Priorities and Foreign Military Sales to Fill Critical Capability Gaps. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2438-2.html. Also available in print form.
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The research described in this report was sponsored by the U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) G-5 and conducted by the Strategy, Doctrine, and Resources Program within the RAND Arroyo Center.

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