Defense Security Cooperation Agency The Defense Security Cooperation Agency ( DSCA ) , as part of the United States Department of Defense ( 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 nations 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 of 1961 , as amended , and the Arms Export Control Act , as amended , and related statutes by which the DoD or commercial contractor provide defense articles and services in furtherance of national policies and objectives . Foreign military sales ( FMS ) . Foreign military sales ( FMS ) and International Military Education and Training ( 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 ( FMF ) . Foreign Military Sales division is the core activity of DSCA , and yearly sales are between US $ 30 and US $ 40 billion . FMS is a U . S . government to foreign government agreement , and DSCA acts as agent for procurement mostly for American defence company and aerospace companies or for DoD stocks . 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 ( $ 15 , 000 , or 3 . 8 % of item and service cost , whichever is greater ) to cover the cost of administering the program . When defense articles or services are required , the requesting country ' s representative in the defense establishment of the country or stationed at the embassy in the U . S . provides a letter of request ( LOR ) to the representative ' s U . S . counterpart . The U . S . counterpart forwards an information copy of the request to the Department of State ( DoS ) Bureau of Politico - Military Affairs and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency ( DSCA ) . The original is furnished to the DoD Military Department ( MILDEP – Army , Navy , or Air Force ) or Defense Agency which will prepare the response . The response may be in the form of Price and Availability ( P & A ) information or a letter of Offer and Acceptance ( LOA ) . Due to a shorter preparation and staffing cycle , P & A is normally used only for preliminary planning purposes . The LOA is a formal offer which , when accepted , forms the basis for the U . S . to provide the materiel and services offered . Letter of Offer and Acceptance ( LOA ) . LOAs take three forms : Defense articles , including major defense systems , subsystems , support equipment , repair parts , and publications are provided under Security Cooperation . Services , including training in U . S . military schools or through mobile training teams , construction , engineering , contract administration , program management , technical support , and repair are also provided . Due to interest in encouraging standardization and interoperability among U . S . and SC countries , FMS normally involves the transfer of those items which have been fielded with U . S . forces . While available through FMS , nonstandard articles or services are normally acquired commercially . Under certain conditions , cooperative programs such as coproduction and co - assembly under international agreements , technical assistance services , technical data , and leases of defense items are available . Regional centers . DSCA has five regional centers . They are : Espionage case . Gregg Bergersen was a Chinese spy that worked for the DSCA .