Abrams Tanks in Cairo Underscore Importance of U.S. Arms Sales

(Defpro) : An assessment of U.S. use of arms sales to influence allies around the world
As I watched the making of history in Cairo, I noticed something. The Egyptian Army was moving into the city. A column of tanks was moving down one of the city’s broad avenues. They were M-1 Abrams, the same kind used by the U.S. Army. The Egyptian Army has around 1,000 M-1s built under license and which together with some 1,400 older M-60s and 2,500 M-113s constitute the core of that country’s conventional warfare capability. Moreover, if you looked up in the skies over Cairo you would see U.S. made F-16s. The Egyptian Air Force flies more than 200 of these aircraft along with a number of C-130 transports and eight E-2C Hawkeye early warning aircraft.

The presence of so much U.S. military hardware in Egypt is a good thing. Egypt is the second largest recipient of U.S. military assistance and has been since the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement in 1979. The provision of U.S. assistance and military hardware broke the stranglehold of the Soviet Union over the Egyptian military, thereby helping to cement that peace treaty. The fact that the Egyptian Army and Air Force is U.S. equipped gives Washington enormous leverage over those institutions as we and they try and figure a way forward in the current crisis.

U.S. foreign arms sales are a major force for stability, security and even at times democratization around the world. Foreign military sales provide a wealth of benefits for the United States and the recipient countries. The role of such sales in supporting regional security is obvious. Because it controls the flow of spare parts and the technology to upgrade U.S. systems, Washington can also influence local politics. This is part of what is going on between Washington and Cairo right now. But the sale of U.S. military equipment overseas also is one of the few high technology areas in which the United States still achieves a positive international balance of trade.

The sale of F-16s to some 25 nations created what amounts to an air armada of like-minded and similarly equipped air forces around the world. Common equipment supports common training and planning which facilitates military-to-military relationships and, in turn, greater understanding. In the near future the role played by the F-16 in forging international bonds will be taken up by the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. International participation in this program currently includes the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway. In the near future this could be expanded to many others such as Israel, India, Japan and South Korea.

In World War Two the United States earned the title of the Arsenal of Democracy. Since that time the continued use of the title has been justified by the way the United States has employed targeted arms sales to support and influence friends and allies around the world. As events unfold in Egypt it is possible that this phrase may take on added meaning if a peaceful transition to democracy can be achieved.
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(Daniel Goure)