As King Charles visits Washington to oil the waters, the keystone of U.S.-U.K. defense cooperation is showing frayed edges: The AUKUS submarine program faces “shortcomings and failings” that risk derailing delivery timelines and undermining partner confidence, according to a new U.K. parliamentary report.
A pair of forthcoming regulations from the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and the Bureau of Industry and Security indicate that Commerce will soon take on responsibility for exports of silencers and other firearm accessories.
The State Department has moved to renew two Directorate of Defense Trade Controls information collections central to the ITAR brokering regime, seeking public comment on the paperwork burden. Another amendment to ease disclosure requirements linked to fees, commissions and political contributions is on the horizon.
The State Department on Tuesday published three Paperwork Reduction Act notices that would keep in place core Directorate of Defense Trade Controls information collections covering commodity-jurisdiction requests, reexport and retransfer change requests, and the internal compliance records needed to rely on the ITAR’s dual-national and third-country-national carveout.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) and Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA) have been realigned under the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S), marking a structural shift in how the Pentagon manages foreign military sales (FMS) and broader security-cooperation functions.
President Trump signed an executive order creating an “America First Arms Transfer Strategy,” directing federal agencies to use foreign weapons sales more deliberately to expand U.S. defense-industrial capacity, accelerate delivery to allies, and strengthen supply-chain resilience.
The Trump administration on Friday approved a series of major arms sales—most notably $6.67 billion in military equipment to Israel and an additional $9 billion sale of Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia—issuing notifications to Congress that effectively bypass the traditional legislative review period.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) reported a higher-than-average rate of unfavorable findings in its Blue Lantern end-use monitoring program in fiscal year 2024, with Europe and East Asia accounting for the largest share of scrutiny and compliance concerns, according to the annual report to Congress.
The White House has designated Peru and Saudi Arabia as Major Non-NATO Allies (MNNAs), according to presidential determinations signed January 14 and January 13, 2026, respectively, and scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on January 23.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday approved bipartisan legislation that would significantly tighten congressional control over exports of advanced artificial intelligence chips, signaling growing legislative unease with executive-branch discretion in this area.
The U.S. Department of State published two 60-day notices in the Federal Register soliciting public comment on proposed revisions to information collections under the Paperwork Reduction Act for activities governed by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a notice in the Federal Register establishing a process for parties to request changes to the authorized end-user, end-use, and/or destination associated with certain hardware authorizations and Open General Licenses.
A Japanese government audit has found that 118 orders for U.S. military equipment worth ¥1.14 trillion ($7.21 billion) remained undelivered at least five years after contracts were signed, forcing the Self-Defense Forces to retain and operate older platforms, according to a report released this week by Japan’s Board of Audit.
President Trump has invoked emergency authority under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize up to $25.9 million in sales of cluster munitions to Korea, overriding longstanding congressional restrictions and marking a clear break with the approach taken by recent administrations.
The United Kingdom on Dec. 11 formally acceded to the Agreement on Defence Export Controls, joining France, Germany and Spain in a framework intended to streamline export licensing for multinational defence programmes while leaving national control regimes intact.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security has introduced a new Automated Export System license code—C79—to govern routed transactions involving advanced semiconductor manufacturing exports to China, following the revocation of Validated End-User authorizations for major foreign-owned fabs. Effective January 2026, exporters may no longer rely on VEU-related AES codes and must instead report shipments under BIS-issued, fab-held licenses identified by an “H” number, marking a further tightening of export controls on advanced-node integrated circuit production.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (Bureau of Industry and Security) is seeking an additional 30 days of public comment on an information-collection request covering license exceptions and other authorizations under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), according to a notice published Dec. 30 in the Federal Register (90 FR 61117).
The U.S. State Department has finalized changes to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) creating a broad exemption from licensing requirements for most defense trade and cooperation among the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom
A late-December policy memo from the Pentagon’s arms-sales office introduces a technical but consequential change to how U.S. foreign military financing is administered—one that may significantly simplify the use of Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grant aid for key security partners.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) will launch an AI-Enabled Virtual Agent on December 19.
