The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), as part of the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

(DoD), provides financial and technical assistance, transfer of defense matériel, training and services to allies, and promotes military-to-military contacts. Security Cooperation (SC) is founded on a tradition of cooperation between the United States and other

sovereign nation A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...

s with similar values and interests in order to meet common defense goals. It consists of a group of programs authorized by the U.S.

Foreign Assistance Act The Foreign Assistance Act (, et seq.) is a United States law governing foreign aid policy. It outlined the political and ideological principles of U.S. foreign aid, significantly overhauled and reorganized the structure U.S. foreign assistance ...

of 1961, as amended, and the

Arms Export Control Act The Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (Title II of , codified at ) gives the President of the United States the authority to control the import and export of defense articles and defense services. The H.R. 13680 legislation was passed by the 94th ...

, as amended, and related statutes by which the DoD or commercial contractor provide defense articles and services in furtherance of national policies and objectives.

History

Founded in 1971, the Defense Security Assistance Agency was renamed the Defense Security Cooperation Agency effective October 1, 1998.

Foreign military sales (FMS)

Foreign military sales The United States Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program facilitates sales of U.S. arms, defense equipment, defense services, and military training to foreign governments. The purchaser does not deal directly with the defens ...

(FMS) and

International Military Education and Training International Military Education and Training (IMET) is the title of a United States security assistance program, a type of student exchange program. History Congress established the IMET program in the International Security Assistance and Arms ...

(IMET) are two key programs included within Security Cooperation. IMET is conducted solely on a grant basis. FMS can be conducted through direct payments of foreign states or

United States Foreign Military Financing The Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program provides grants and loans to help countries purchase weapons and defense equipment produced in the United States as well as acquiring defense services and military training. FMF funds purchases are made ...

(FMF). Foreign Military Sales division is the core activity of DSCA, and yearly sales are between

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

30 and US$40 billion. In fiscal year 2020, US corporations sold $50.8 billion through FMS, and $124.3 billion through direct commercial sales. FMS is a U.S. government to foreign government agreement, and DSCA acts as agent for procurement mostly for American

defense company The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and ser ...

and

aerospace companies Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

or for DoD stocks. On any given day, DSCA is managing “14,000 open foreign military sales cases with 185 countries,” the DSCA director Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper explained at the Brookings Institution in June 2019. FMS is managed and operated by DoD on a no-profit and no-loss basis. Countries participating in the program pay for defense articles and services at prices which recoup costs incurred by the United States. This includes a fee to cover the cost of administering the program.

Regional centers

DSCA has five regional centers. They are: *

Africa Center for Strategic Studies The Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) is self-described as "a U.S. Department of Defense institution established and funded by Congress for the study of security issues relating to Africa and serving as a forum for bilateral and multila ...

Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies The Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) is a U.S. Department of Defense institute that officially opened Sept. 4, 1995, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Center addresses regional and global security issues, inviting militar ...

George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies is a bi-national United States Department of Defense and Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany) security and defense studies institute. When the Marshall Center was founded in 1993, its mi ...

William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies is a U.S. Department of Defense institution for defense and security studies in the Western Hemisphere. Through courses, seminars, outreach, strategic dialogue, and focused research in suppo ...

Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies Established in 2000, the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies is a U.S. Department of Defense institution for building relationships and understanding in the NESA region. The NESA Center supports the theater security cooperati ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Security Cooperation Agency Government agencies established in 1961 1961 establishments in the United States