PEO EIS Provides Foreign Military Sales Update

Andy Strand, chief, Program Executive Office, Enterprise Information Systems, International Programs Division (IPD), provided a detailed update on Foreign Military Sales (FMS) opportunities to a crowd of more than 85 industry and Army civilians at a chapter small-business networking event in August at the Fort Belvoir Officers Club. Strand discussed the global drivers behind the "hockey stick" growth of IPD; how a foreign information technology requirement becomes an FMS case; the unique attributes of FMS funding sources; IPD's global footprint and opportunity pipeline; and more. IPD's mission is to enable information dominance for partner nations and friendly foreign governments through the transfer of information technology products and services and delivery of other security assistance programs to build allied partners' capabilities, based on the premise that when the United States assists other nations in meeting their defense requirements, it contributes to its own. Over the past four years, IPD volume has expanded tenfold, with fiscal year 2016 volume anticipated to triple again by the end of fiscal year 2018, based on drivers such as the European Reassurance Initiative (ERI), counter-ISIL and other terrorist threats, the worldwide refugee crisis, assistance to European partners in achieving NATO Capability Target compliance, and the ongoing need to build interoperability between coalition and U.S. forces. Anticipated requirements range from C4ISR systems in Albania, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and the Ukraine to cybersecurity services in Georgia, Lithuania and Romania, among other requirements. This growth presents tremendous opportunities for U.S.-based information technology product and service providers interested in expanding globally to support U.S. partners. Strand's slides are available from the chapter website at belvoir.afceachapters.org under the Events tab.

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