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Behind the Scenes of Foreign Military Sales: PROS is a Proven Lifeline for International Partners

  • Published
  • By Jonathan Tharp
  • Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate

In the world of Foreign Military Sales (FMS), there are a lot of “moving parts” literally. Whether it’s an aircraft, Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance platform, or missile system, there’s a plethora of highly-technical, carefully-engineered parts and support equipment needed to operate the weapon system efficiently and effectively for the long term. Unfortunately, parts don’t last forever, and, when a part does fail, it is not always easy to replace.
 
That’s where FMS programs like the Parts Repair and Ordering System (PROS) managed by the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate (AFSAC) come to the rescue. When an FMS Partner can no longer operate or sustain its capabilities due to a part that fails, members of the PROS team are eager to help.
 
Non-Standard and Hard-to-Support Standard Parts Support
 
By definition, PROS is a major $4.2B procurement contract which provides support for our FMS partners’ non-standard (A05 code) and hard-to-support standard (A01 code) requirements. “Non-standard represents an item that is NOT actively managed, procured, stocked, stored or issued within the United States Air Force (USAF) Inventory,” explained PROS Senior Logistics Manager, Sterling Johnson, “Hard-to-support standard items are still actively managed in the USAF inventory, but there’s an added complexity that PROS can help FMS Partners navigate.”
 
The PROS program is currently executed by a prime contractor S&K Aerospace Inc. (SKA) located in Warner Robins, Georgia near Robins Air Force Base. SKA utilizes over 400 hundred vendors nationwide to search and provide logistics support to over 125 foreign nations and partners.
 
The contract with SKA is managed by the PROS Program Management Office (PMO) within AFSAC at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) near Dayton, Ohio. The PROS PMO team members closely monitor contractor performance, track and resolve problems with requisitions, and attend national aircraft conferences gathering critical data and other information useful to manage the PROS program.
 
Supporting the Air Force, Army, and Navy
 
“The PROS program is also tri-service capable; meaning, FMS Partners can use PROS to repair and order parts for their Army, Navy, and Air Force capabilities,” emphasized PROS Program Manager Ben Walters. “This feature provides additional flexibility for partners to take care of all their capabilities needs not just their Air Force.”
 
3 Dedicated Service Areas for FMS Partners
 
PROS supports FMS partners in the following three services:
 

  1. Supply: Procurement of spare parts and end items, including package buys and Price and Availability (P&A).
  2. Maintenance: Test, Teardown and Inspection (TTI), repair, overhaul, upgrade, modification, and calibration/testing.
  3. Task Orders: Studies, analysis, and technical services to include site surveys, training, and equipment installation support.

“PROS typically averages over 2,000 separate supply/repair requisitions with an average monthly value of $50 million,” highlighted Walters.
 
In all of these service areas, the PROS team supports FMS partners by focusing on competitive pricing, quality products, and timely support. “Often times, when a partner is coming to PROS, it means something is not working right, and they’re probably having a bad day,” added Walters, “We want to make their day better with how we serve them.”
 
A Growing Mission
 
Since the 1950s, PROS has been growing and adding aircraft to support throughout the decades. Here’s a brief list of some of the FMS aircraft supported
by the program listed in order by the year they were added:
 

  • 1950s: A-37, T-33, T-37, C-47
  • 1960s: C-7, T-38, A-7, F-104
  • 1970s: C-130, F-111, F-4, F-5, 707
  • 1980s: F-16, F-15, E-3, KC-135
  • 1990s: 767, F-35
  • 2000-2021: C-17, KC-46

The PROS program continues to grow. On the AFSAC Online website, there’s a page dedicated to the various PROS contracts. Currently, PROS IV and PROS V are displayed. You can learn more about this program here: https://afsac.wpafb.af.mil/pros.jsp.