The end of the Cold War and concerns about the budget deficit have led to a reduction in more visible foreign military assistance. Surplus transfers have come to supplement, or in some cases even supplant, traditional forms of aid.
All amounts are original acquisition values.
If these weapons contribute to the outbreak of warfare, or if they encourage surplus arms exports by other nations, they may end up costing American taxpayers a great deal. The Pentagon could end up spending far more than it has saved if it has to defend against contingencies enabled by surplus arms shipments. In the worst case, U.S. forces might actually be called on to intervene in a conflict fueled by U.S. weapons transfers. A particularly dangerous initiative is the air force plan to sell old weapons to directly fund the procurement of new ones. Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the F-16, is lobbying hard for the plan, which would give the company hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrade work on the older planes as well as orders for new ones.