Foreign weapons sales reach $34 billion

The Pentagon announced $34.8 billion in U.S. weapons were sold to foreign governments in 2011, a figure that fell short of projections for $46 billion in foreign sales.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a Defense agency that oversees foreign military arms sales, said that the weapons sales surpassed $30 billion for the fourth year in a row.

That was still short of the agency’s $46 billion projection for fiscal year 2011.

The top recipient of U.S. weapons in 2011 was the Afghan Security Forces, which spent $5.4 billion. Taiwan followed at $4.9 billion, followed by India ($4.5 billion), Australia ($3.9 billion), Saudi Arabia ($3.5 billion) and Iraq ($2 billion).

Weapons sales to foreign governments are one avenue that contractors are examining as the Pentagon plans to trim its budget in the coming years.

Initial forecasts for 2012 are around $30 billion in foreign arms sales, the agency said, though official projections are still being finalized.

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