What is provisioning in Foreign Military Sales?

Initial support is the range and quantity of items such as tools, spares, and repair parts provided in a defined order case during an initial period of service. These items are provided to support and maintain the major item purchased in the defined order case. Initial support is provided to the international partner before, or at the same time, the system or major item is delivered. This ensures the successful introduction and operation of the new system into the international partner’s inventory. Sufficient quantities of repair parts must be on hand until follow-on support is available.

The period initial support covers varies by weapon system and is set with the purchaser, normally at a definitization conference. In order to determine the level required for SC international partners, information is needed by the U.S. implementing MILDEP, such as the average operations per month, number of repair locations, maintenance concept, etc. A driving force in determining the amount of initial support to be provided for a particular weapon system is often the amount of money that the country is willing to invest.

After returning from the site survey, the logistics program manager reviews the repairable and maintenance-allowance recommendations. Part numbers, stock numbers, quantities, and supply sources are validated for subsequent ordering. The amount of support is normally based on a mutually agreed upon rate of operation for the system. Determining the type and duration of initial support is normally accomplished with a program-specific definitization conference. The U.S. recommendation for the range and depth of initial support will be based on earlier U.S. provisioning data.

Provisioning is the process of determining the type of repair parts to stock (or “range”) and quantity of each stocked item to have on hand (or “depth”) to support and maintain a system through its initial period of service. A weapon system must be maintained in operating condition throughout its lifetime to be valuable. It is not enough to think only of the plane, ship, or tank, but all those things that will be necessary to use and maintain that weapon system. Provisioning is used to determine all the necessary repair parts, test equipment, and other accessories such as special tools and ground support equipment. It is an extensive and expensive process that the DoW does for each new weapon system it employs.

The provisioning conference is a working group consisting of engineering, maintenance, supply, system operational personnel, and contractor representatives. This conference is held early enough in a weapon system acquisition program to permit an orderly production of the required items. Through the use of the maintenance concept, technical drawings, parts lists, estimated prices, recommended quantities, and agreed upon replacement factors, a decision is made regarding which items will be stocked in the DoW supply system and which will be procured only on demand. It is also during the provisioning conference that the necessary information is collected to begin cataloging new items for the DoW logistics system.

Definitization is the process by which the provisioning requirements for the U.S. are adjusted to accommodate those of the international partner. The definitization process is essentially the same for FMS as is the provisioning process for new systems procured for U.S. forces. However, since most systems sold through FMS have already been provisioned for U.S. use, the U.S. operation, maintenance, and consumption data are the foundation for making adjustments for the international partner’s projected requirements. During the operation of a weapon system, the database created during provisioning is updated continuously to reflect actual usage and to modify the theoretical decisions, which were originally assumed. This updated database becomes the basis for determining what types of support should be included in the total package transferred to an international partner.

The overall objective of definitization is to provide optimum logistics support, at a reasonable cost, using the best possible calculations of projected needs. It is rarely advisable for the international partner to use unreviewed U.S. data alone. The additional step of definitization is necessary to ensure adequate and tailored support for the system, which is being purchased.