Amazon for Military: USA to Launch Digital Platform for Arms Sales
The US Army is preparing to launch the Foreign Military Sales Marketplace, a digital platform designed to significantly streamline the sale of American weapons to allies.
This was announced by US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll during a briefing at the Pentagon, according to DefenseScoop.
According to him, the new system will go live within a few weeks or a month and will initially be open to 25 foreign countries. The first categories of weapons on the platform will be drones and counter-drone systems.
In the future, the catalog is planned to be expanded to include other types of military equipment and weapons.
The Pentagon describes the platform as an ‘Amazon for weapons.’ US allies will be able to compare system specifications, place orders, and complete procurement procedures much faster than under the traditional Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system.
Additionally, Dan Driscoll stated that the current sales system for even relatively inexpensive drones often takes six months to a year due to complex bureaucratic procedures. According to him, the new marketplace is intended to reduce this process to the shortest possible timeframe.
The Pentagon believes the new system will benefit not only allies but also the US defense-industrial complex. US authorities aim to create sustained demand for American weapons systems and increase the production rate of drones, missiles, and air defense systems.
Drones are receiving special attention due to the experience of the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East. The US military believes that unmanned systems are currently shaping a new model of modern warfare, and US allies are actively seeking fast channels for procuring such platforms.
The US Army is working with Amazon Web Services and the Army Enterprise Cloud Management Agency to create the marketplace. Previously, the Pentagon had already launched a separate UAS Marketplace for the procurement of drones by US military units.
Currently, the Pentagon is not disclosing the list of countries that will be the first to gain access to the Foreign Military Sales Marketplace. It is known only that they will include countries in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region.
In the future, the system may allow for the sale of not only American weapons but also equipment from US allies.
Earlier, Militarnyi reported that the American company Codective LLC, founded by Ukrainians, announced that it had secured strategic investments from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
