The U.S. defense industry and Defense Department are shifting their focus toward pursuing business with international customers amid declining budgets and weak domestic demand, Defense News reported Saturday.
Frank Kendall, defense undersecretary of acquisition, technology and logistics, said global clients remain dependent on the U.S. to produce defense products for their military requirements, Aaron Mehta reports.
“The thing I hear very often is they think the U.S. has top-quality systems and business deals with the U.S., when in place, are executed as planned, and the U.S. does a very good job fielding the systems,†Kendall told Defense News.
The defense acquisition chief also expressed support for the U.S. defense industry’s products, according to the report.
“The message I’m getting is there is a high demand for those products, (but) people want to see us do a more expeditious process of getting their requests resolved,†he told the publication.
Mehta writes that Kendall, along with U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley, Air Force acquisition head William LaPlante and Air Force commander in Europe and Africa Gen. Frank Gorenc, recently attended the 2014 Farnborough International Airshow.
Other U.S. government officials at the event also answered questions from industry on policy reforms for exporting unmanned systems, Defense News reports.
