Foreign Materiel Acquisition and Exploitation

Foreign Materiel Acquisition and Exploitation falls under Budget Activity 7, Operational Systems Development, and supports the military services' and defense agencies' Foreign Material Program activities. The program element may include necessary civilian pay expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver weapon system capability. This budget line item is part of the Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) budget for the Air Force and aims to fund the acquisition and exploitation of foreign materiel to enhance weapon system capabilities. The program's specific objectives include managing and executing foreign material acquisition and exploitation activities in support of operational systems development.

The program also involves reviewing additional acquisition and exploitation opportunities quarterly, submitting and validating requirements and funding requests from services/agencies, executing and updating the Foreign Material Program plan as required, and prioritizing execution based on ongoing reviews. Additionally, the program aims to execute ad-hoc foreign material acquisition and exploitation reviews when required throughout each fiscal year. The budget line item reflects a decrease in funding from FY23 due to a one-time supplemental funding of $37.5 million in FY23, an OUSD(I&S) directed program in FY24, and inflation. Overall, the program seeks to enhance weapon system capabilities through the strategic acquisition and exploitation of foreign materiel.