Rapid Fire June 15, 2012: US Defense Exports Booming

* US exports of defense products and services are seeing strong growth according to Andrew J. Shapiro, the Assistant State Secretary at the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. FY 2011 record numbers (report in Excel format) will be easily beaten again this year, driven by big sales to Saudi Arabia and Japan. Shapiro on exports to India: “[T]here’s a number of tenders which we hope we’re successful on, including a tender for Apache helicopters. And we continue to advocate for them, and we’re hopeful that we’ll be successful on a number of sales over the coming year with India.” * The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) is also hopeful [PDF] on the issue of US-India defense trade. Another of their recent briefings: a case study for Better Buying Power [PDF], the Pentagon’s umbrella initiative to lower costs. * Red Flag Alaska 2012: German Eurofighters, Japanese F-15Js, Polish F-16 Block 52s… and the F-22A Raptor. The F-22s stay close enough to their bases to fly, and the allied forces learn how to work with stealth fighters. * US Customs & Border Patrol has received another refurbished P-3 AEW plane from Lockheed Martin. Most people don’t think of US CBP in […]