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US State Department official to promote military sales at Singapore show

Reuters Published on Fri, Feb 02, 2018 / 8:00 AM GMT+8

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WASHINGTON (Feb 2): The United States for the first time in years is sending its diplomat responsible for foreign military sales to the Singapore Airshow to promote US-made weapons, a US official said on Thursday, as the State Department prepares for an overseas arms sales push.

The attendance of Ambassador Tina Kaidanow at the Feb 6-10 air show, the most important in the Asia Pacific region, is aimed at boosting sales for US arms manufacturers such as F-35 jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp and missile manufactured by Raytheon Co.

President Donald Trump's administration is nearing completion of a new "Buy American" initiative that calls for US military attaches and diplomats to play a much bigger role in the sale of billions of dollars more in business overseas.