Can a Foreign Military Sales purchaser see the contract behind its LOA?

The legal instrument used by the USG to transfer itemized defense articles, defense services, and design and construction services to foreign partners.

When used under the authorities provided in the Arms Export Control Act for Foreign Military Sales, the LOA is a binding agreement signed by the USG and the foreign partner to transfer such articles and services.

When used under Building Partnership Capacity (BPC) authorities, the BPC LOA is not signed by the Benefitting Partner.

A person with the authority to enter into, administer, and/or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings. The term includes certain authorized representatives of the Contracting Officer acting within the limits of their authority as delegated by the Contracting Officer. A Contracting Officer whose primary responsibility is to enter into contracts is called a procuring contracting officer. One whose primary responsibility is to administer contracts is called an administrative contracting officer. One whose primary responsibility is to terminate contracts and/or settle terminated contracts is called a "termination contracting officer." A single contracting officer may be responsible for duties in any or all of these areas.

The individual authorized to enter into contracts for supplies and services on behalf of the government by detailed bids or negotiations and who is responsible for overall procurement under such contracts.

The FAR is the primary regulation for use by federal executive agencies for the acquisition of supplies and services with appropriated funds. The document, published in 1984, consolidated the major procurement regulations of various departments and agencies. The intent of the FAR is to standardize the content, decrease the volume of documents, and to achieve consistency throughout government. The principal agencies involved in putting together the FAR were DoD, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the three largest buyers. The FAR is broader than just contracting and applies to all goods and services. It directs the defense program manager in many ways, including contract award procedures, acquisition planning, warranties, and establishing guidelines for competition. Besides the FAR, each agency has its supplement to describe its own particular way of doing business. The DoD supplement is called Defense FAR Supplement.

The military department or defense agency responsible for the execution of military assistance programs. With respect to FMS, the military department or defense agency assigned responsibility by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency to prepare an LOA and to implement an FMS case. The implementing agency is responsible for the overall management of the actions that will result in delivery of the materials or services set forth in the LOA that was accepted by a foreign country or international organization.

Implementing Agencies’ (IAs) (Military Department organizations and Defense Agencies) response to requests from a foreign government or international organization (partner) for preliminary pricing and availability for international competitions and requests from authorized USG requesting authorities for building partner capacity. Furnishing of this data does not constitute a commitment for the USG to offer for sale the articles and services for which the data is provided.

When used with respect to a contract action, means that all responsible sources are permitted to compete.

The process wherein the requirements, facts, recommendations, and government policy relevant to an award decision in a competitive procurement of a system/project are examined and the decision made.