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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Arms Transfers to UkraineMore than two dozen countries have announced or delivered weapons to Ukraine. See our resource page to track continually updated developments.
Notification TrackerRecent FMS notifications: March 17 - Greece $268 million for 70+ assault amphibious vehicles (AAVs) March 16 - Australia $895 million for 200+ Tomahawks; Poland $150 million for 800 Hellfire missiles March 14 - Romania $104.0 million for 129 joint light tactical vehicles March 7 - Japan $1.381 billion for 5 Hawkeye early warning aircraft; Australia $60.18 million for 250+ Javelin missiles March 1 - Taiwan $619 million for 300+ missiles for F-16s February 28 - United Kingdom $125.13 million for 600 Javelin missile February 27 - Australia $506 million for 63 advanced anti-radiation missiles (AARGM-ERs) February 16 - Netherlands $670 million for missiles (HIMARS, ATACMS, GMLRS) February 14 - Kuwait $250 million for medical information system February 9 - Singapore $55 million for air-to-ground munition kits February 7 - Poland $10 billion for missiles (HIMARS, ATACMS, GMLRS)
2022: December 28 - Taiwan $180 million for Volcano anti-tank systems December 6 - Poland $3.75 billion for one hundred sixteen (116) M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks and other vehicles and ammunition; South Korea $1.5 billion for eighteen (18) CH-47F helicopters; Taiwan $330 million for aircraft standard spare parts and $98 million for aircraft non-standard spare parts December 1 - Finland $380 million for 350 Stinger missiles November 29 - Qatar $1 billion for FS-LIDS anti-drone system November 28 - Finland $323.3 million for 80+ air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles November 15- Switzerland $700 million for 72 Patriot missiles November 9 - Lithuania $495 million for 8 HIMARS launchers and about 200 missile pods Oman $385 million for 48 joint stand off weapons (JSOW) November 8 - Belgium $380 million for 120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAMs) November 2 - Australia $6.35 billion for 24 C-130J-30 aircraft Finland $535 million for hundreds of warheads for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems ... Calendar year 2022 total was nearly $82 billion worldwide see resource 
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.
Elias Yousif, "US Security Assistance to Somalia," Stimson Center, March 20, 2023.
Wanda Muñoz and Branka Marijan, "Autonomous weapons and deepfakes: weaponization of AI and the urgent need for regulation," in Missing Links in AI Governance, UNESCO and Mila - Québec Artificial Intelligence Institute, March 2023. Tara Najim, Wim Zwijnenburg, Noor Nahas, and Roberto Jaramillo Vasquez, "Axed and Burned: How Conflict-caused Deforestation Impacts Environmental, Socio-economic and Climate Resilience in Syria," PAX, March 2023. Ray Acheson, "Editorial: Taking on the War-Builders," in CCW Report, vol. 11, no.2, Reaching Critical Will, March 14, 2023. Michael Klare, "Is a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Imminent?," TomDispatch, March 14, 2023. William Hartung, "US dominates global arms trade as exports to Europe surge," Responsible Statecraft, March 13, 2023. William Hartung, "Biden’s new whopping $886B defense budget request," Responsible Statecraft, March 9, 2023. Allison Pytlak, "Download in Progress: Addressing the Gender Dimensions of Cyber Security," Stimson Center, March 8, 2023. William Hartung, "Cranes, Planes, and Surveillance Balloons: Hyping the China Threat Harms U.S. Security," Forbes, March 7, 2023. Bonnie Docherty and Mary Wareham, "Latin America and Caribbean Nations Rally Against Autonomous Weapons Systems," Just Security, March 6, 2023. John Chappell & Ari Tolany, "Unpacking Biden’s Conventional Arms Transfer Policy," Lawfare, March 2, 2023. Rosie Berman, Dan Mahanty, & Annie Shiel, "(Un)Accountable: Rethinking US Security Sector Accountability Across the Domestic-International Divide," Center for Civilians in Conflict and Stimson Center, March 1, 2023. Jeff Abramson, "Ukraine Landmine Use Under Scrutiny," Arms Control Today, March 2023. Michael Klare, "Pentagon Seeks to Facilitate Autonomous Weapons Deployment," Arms Control Today, March 2023. Stephen Miles, "A Progressive Take on Ukraine," Inkstick, February 28, 2023. Michael T. Klare, "Pentagon Prepares for Island Combat in the Pacific as US-China Tensions Rise," Truthout, February 28, 2023. Cesar Jaramillo, "A negotiated settlement is the only path to peace in Ukraine," The Globe and Mail, February 25, 2023. Jordan Cohen, "Two Years Later: Biden Has Finally Taken the First Step on Stopping Risky Arms Transfers," CATO Institute, February 23, 2023. Jordan Cohen and Jonathan Ellis Allen, "Examining One Year of Weapons Transfers to Ukraine," Inkstick, February 23, 2023. Colby Goodman, "The corruption of massive industry ‘sweeteners’ in foreign arm sale," Responsible Statecraft, February 23, 2023. William Hurtung, "New Bill Injects Note of Sanity Into Pentagon Spending Debate," Forbes, February 22, 2023. Michael T. Klare, "Congress Girds for War With China," The Nation, February 21, 2023. Robert Muggah, "Haiti Is on the Brink of State Failure," Foreign Policy, February 17, 2023. Elias Yousif, "Beyond Ukraine: Russia’s Invasion & Its Impact on the Conventional Arms Trade," Stimson Center, February 17, 2023. Kate Kizer and Scott Paul, "What Yemen Needs Now," War on the Rocks, February 16, 2023. Anna Stavrianakis, "Debunking the myth of the ‘robust control regime’: UK arms export controls during war and armed conflict," in Global Policy, Volume 14, Issue 1, Durham University. Jennifer L. Erickson, "Demystifying the ‘gold standard’ of arms export controls: US arms exports to conflict zonest," in Global Policy, Volume 14, Issue 1, Durham University. Emma Soubrier, "Unpacking the storytelling around French arms sales: Demystifying the ‘strategic autonomy’ argument," in Global Policy, Volume 14, Issue 1, Durham University. Julia Gledhill and William D. Hartung, "Merger Mania in the Military-Industrial Complex," TomDispatch, February 14, 2023. Cesar Jaramillo and Kelsey Gallagher (emerging expert), "Five urgent questions about arms transfers to Ukraine," Ploughshares, February 9, 2023. View the full list of recent and past publications featuring Forum on the Arms Trade-listed experts.
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US Conventional Arms Transfer PolicyA new policy was released on February 23. See page for new and past policies, as well as additional resources.
Find experts who speak...Congressional Arms Trade MeasuresDuring the 118th U.S. Congress session (2023-2024) members of the House and Senate have and will propose a range of legislation addressing the arms trade, security assistance, and military support. This resource page identifies a selection of key resolutions on these topics.
US-Saudi Arms SalesBiden administration arms sales to Saudi Arabia are again receiving scrutiny after it was announced that OPEC would cut oil production. To date, more than $4 billion worth of weapons and services have been notified to Congress for potential sale to Saudi Arabia. See page for latest developments, including statements and efforts by members of Congress, official government resources, and civil society assessments and commentary.
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. (see resource)
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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.