The Forum on the Arms Trade is a network of civil society experts and a point of contact for strengthening public efforts to address the humanitarian, economic and other implications of arms transfers, security assistance, and weapons use. The Forum provides a venue for bringing its community's wide-ranging expertise together to amplify and strengthen its work, while also offering government and media members a one-stop resource for the latest information, analysis, and best contacts. Forum-listed experts are located around the world and work on diverse topics including human rights, development, arms control, humanitarian disarmament, cybersecurity, arms and the environment, anti-corruption, and related fields.
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Notification TrackerRecent FMS notifications: September 27 - Kuwait $250 million for tank ammunition September 7 - Pakistan $450 million for F-16 sustainment September 2 - Taiwan $665.4 million for support to Surveillance Radar Program, $355 million for 60 Harpoon missiles, $85.6 million for 100 Sidewinder missiles August 25 - Australia $1.95 billion for 40 Black Hawk helicopters Morocco $141.1 million for ground command and control equipment August 9 - Brazil $74 million for 222 Javelin missile August 2 - Saudi Arabia $3.05 billion for 300 Patriot missiles UAE $2.245 billion for 96 THAAD missiles and 2 stations August 1 - United Kingdom $300 million for 513 Javelin launch units Greece $162.07 million for S-70B helicopter support July 28 - Germany $8.4 billion for thirty-five (35) F-35s and munitions July 25 - Singapore $640 million for F-15 bombs and training; Japan $293 million for 150 advanced air-to-air missiles (AMRAAMs) July 21 - Netherlands $1.219 billion for ninety-six (96) PATRIOT GEM-T missiles; Kuwait $397 million for hundreds of missiles and bombs for Eurofighter Typhoons; Australia $235 million for air-to-surface missiles; UAE $206 million for Oceanographic Observation Equipment System July 19 - UAE $980.4 million for C-17 sustainment Belgium $127 million for F-16 sustainment July 15 - Norway $950 million for more than 200 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles; Estonia $500 million for six HIMARS launchers and 36 missile pods; South Korea $130 million for 31 lightweight torpedoes; Taiwan $108 million for tank and combat vehicle support... Calendar year 2022 total now more than $61 billion worldwide see resource
Biden Administration Controversial Arms SalesOn May 26, the Biden administration notified Congress of a potential $2.6 billion sale for 23 Chinook helicopters and on May 19 $691 million 5000+ TOW-2 missiles to Egypt.
On April 14, the Biden administration notified Congress of a potential $997 million sale to Nigeria for twelve (12) AH-1Z attack helicopters and related weapons. On March 16, Head of U.S. Central Command Frank McKenzie said the Biden administration would fulfill Egypt's years-long request for F-15 fighter jets at a Senate hearing. Congress has yet to be officially notified of the sale. On March 10, S.J.Res 35 to block arms sales to Egypt failed, with fewer than 20 Senators voting to discharge it from committee. Separately, 42 Republican Senators sent a letter to President Biden disagreeing with his decision "to delay and deny Poland the option to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine." The administration had earlier rejected an offer from Poland to donate MiG jets to the United States, for potential U.S. transfer to Ukraine. On February 7, Sen. Rand Paul introduced resolutions of disapproval on the proposed Egyptian arms sales via the FMS program (see January 25, below). On March 10, that resolution failed to pass. After a January 30 deadline for Egypt to take action passed, the administration decided to reprogram $130 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Foreign Military Financing (FMF). On February 1, nineteen organizations issues a joint statement welcoming this decision, but calling it insufficient. On January 31, during a meeting with Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, President Biden indicated that he is planning to designate of Qatar as a major non-NATO ally More on this designation status can be found here. On January 25, the Biden administration notified Congress of potential foreign military sales to Egypt for 12 C-130J Super Hercules aircraft for $2.2 billion and 3 air defense radars for $355 million. 
Experts PublicationsHighlighting publications in which Forum-listed experts were involved. Inclusion on the Forum on the Arms Trade expert list does not indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of others.
Ray Acheson, Laura Boillot, Bonnie Docherty, Natalie Goldring, Allison Pytlak, Doug Weir, Wim Zwijnenburg, and others, "First Committee briefing book 2022" Reaching Critical Will, September 16, 2022.
Jordan Cohen, "Not Looking Like Leverage: The False Promises of Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia," Cato Institute, September 12, 2022. William Hartung, "In Pursuit of Higher Revenues, Weapons Contractors Exaggerate Impacts of Inflation," Forbes, September, 15, 2022. William Hartung, “Spending Unlimited: Contractors Cash in as Congress Adds Billions to the Pentagon Budget," TomDispatch, September 11, 2022. Jeff Abramson, "Congress Notifications Reinstated on Some Gun Exports," Arms Control Today, September 2022. Nicholas Marsh+, "Dual-Use AI Technology in China, the US and the EU: Strategic Implications for the Balance of Power," PRIO, September, 2022. Laura Boillot, "The political declaration on explosive weapons – a milestone achievement," Article 36, September 8, 2022. John Lindsay Poland, "Maquiladoras de armas, fábrica de balas: el flujo de municiones al norte en un tiempo violento," Animal Politico, August 24, 2022. Annie Shiel, “How the FY23 NDAA Can Strengthen U.S. Efforts to Prevent and Respond to Civilian Harm (Part I),” JustSecurity, August 25, 2022. Jennifer Erickson, "The advocacy groups working to bring the Arms Trade Treaty to life," Devdiscourse, August 22, 2022. Andrea Edoardo Varisco and Mark Bromley (editor), "Good Practice Guide on Post-shipment On-site Inspections of Military Materiel," SIPRI, August 2022. Rachel Stohl and Elias Yousif, "Taking Stock of ATT Reporting," Stimson Center, August 22, 2022. Michael Klare, “Pelosi’s Taiwan Visit Launched a New Era of Military Competition With China,” The Nation, August 10, 2022. William Hartung, “Weapons Contractors Thrive Despite Pandemic, Supply Chain Issues,” Forbes, August 9, 2022. Lauren Woods, “Despite Rhetoric, Biden is Continuing Trump's Weapons Sales," War on the Rocks, August 8, 2022. Rachel Stohl and Elias Yousif, "The Notorious Viktor Bout is Back," Stimson Center, August 4, 2022. View the full list of recent and past publications featuring Forum on the Arms Trade-listed experts.
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Arms Transfers to UkraineMore than two dozen countries have announced or delivered weapons to Ukraine. See our resource page to track continually updated developments.
Find experts who speak...Latest "This Week in Arms Trade Publications"
Click image above for the latest collection of publications by Forum-listed experts, and other updates on arms trade, security assistance and weapons use. Sign up to receive directly via email and check archived editions here.
Meet the Emerging ExpertsCurrent program participants (mid-2022 to mid-2023) are based in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Meet them here.
U.S. Arms Exports Under Congressional Notification Thresholds
Under U.S. law, Congress must be notified of certain potential arms exports when their value reaches a minimum threshold. There are, however, arms exports that fail to meet that threshold, and it is very difficult to assess the number and amount of such "under threshold" transfers. There is evidence, however, that the value of U.S. weapons delivered internationally that were not notified to Congress beforehand is in the tens of billions, creating a transparency and public knowledge challenge in understanding U.S. arms trade practice and its impact.
Conventional Arms Transfer PolicyThe Biden administration is revising U.S. conventional arms transfer (CAT) policy, with media at one point reporting a possible release in September 2021 and a policy placing greater emphasis on human rights. This resource includes past policies, general policy recommendations from Forum-listed experts, and other relevant material. It will be updated as information about the new CAT policy becomes available.
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Experts
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The Forum is based at the Arms Control Association. Partners are not responsible for the work of the Forum nor does
partnership indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of other partners, listed experts, or resources produced by the Forum.
partnership indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of other partners, listed experts, or resources produced by the Forum.