{"id":57273,"date":"2017-07-24T03:10:57","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T03:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/07\/24\/interview-aias-dave-melcher-on-the-benefit-of-global-competition\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:10:08","slug":"interview-aias-dave-melcher-on-the-benefit-of-global-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/top-100\/2017\/07\/24\/interview-aias-dave-melcher-on-the-benefit-of-global-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: AIA’s Dave Melcher on the benefit of global competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PARIS \u2013 The defense industry has always been global, but international allies are increasingly looking to cash in more on the opportunity. AIA CEO Dave Melcher spoke about how that focus influences U.S. companies\u2019 approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m hearing a lot of talk about militarizing commercial aircraft. That\u2019s always been done. But are we seeing an increase?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone is looking at all the options available to them at varying price points to bring capability forward. Sometimes militarizing an aircraft not originally intended for that is the answer for a particular country or customer compared to something that is much more expensive that they can\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We saw a dip in foreign military sales in 2016. Why?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have to look at foreign military sales over a continuum [of] more than just one year. Normally when there\u2019s a sale, be it big or small, it will roll out over a period of several years. If you took the rolling average of sales over a two to three year period, you would find it\u2019s a steady trajectory moving upward. But there are big years, where it\u2019s double what it was the previous, then there are some where it is a little less. I don\u2019t get too excited about a particular drop in one year of FMS, because I know the general trend is up and I think the folks that handle FMS would agree with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you expect an uptick in 2017?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you look at the big Saudi order, Qatar orders, I think FMS is ahead of where it was projected to be already, so I do expect [a] rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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