Space Systems Command officials discussed SSC’s preparation as it anticipates an increase in space-focused foreign military sales, or FMS, cases during the command’s inaugural FMS Enterprise Kick-Off conference held Feb. 12 at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, California.
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Consolidated Approach
The command said Friday Maj. Simone Zacharias, chief of foreign military sales with SSC’s International Affairs Office, mentioned the command’s efforts to create a consolidated approach in preparation for upcoming FMS cases.
“Now, we’re establishing a consolidated approach because we have FMS cases coming in for complex weapon systems, complex satellite systems across all of the different mission areas,” Zacharias said at the conference. “In the past, if you were involved with acquiring GPS user equipment, then you likely had exposure to FMS, but the vast majority of the space acquisition community has not been involved with foreign military sales.”
FMS Cases in Billions
Deidra Eberhardt, SES director of SSC’s Atlas business innovation organization, said the command expects a rapid rise in workload as it anticipates billions of dollars’ worth of FMS cases.
“The dollar value for the cases we’re anticipating is in the billions, and that translates into more acquisitions for our current programs,” Eberhardt stated. “Our workload will increase exponentially, based on the funding coming in from partnerships.”
Sharing Space Technology With Allies
During the conference, Zacharias talked about the country’s willingness to share its space technology with allies.
“Space capability has been our crown jewel, that we’ve kept extremely classified for the better part of our history. Now we’re understanding that in order for the U.S. to be more lethal, we have to release enabling space technology and bring our allies and partners with us into the joint fight,” she said. “We’re willing to release space capability in a much more rapid and much larger capacity now than ever before.”
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