NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md.–The Air-to-Air Missiles Program Office (PMA-259) International Programs team accepted the 2020 Department of the Navy Acquisition Excellence Award for International Acquisition Partnership on Nov. 5 during a virtual ceremony hosted by Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, James Geurts.
The team was recognized for its continuous accountability and supervision of 103 Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases valued at $2.6 billion for 34 countries and two NATO organizations.
According to the PMA-259 deputy program manager for International Programs, Al Teeney, the significant, continued growth of international missile sales is highly attributable to the team’s endless efforts to develop and seek United States Government concurrence for the aggressive, forward-leaning AIM-9X Export Policy under which it operates. Far exceeding the yearly program’s goal of 200 FMS missiles sold each year, the team is also growing the AIM-9X International Community at a rate of two new countries per year.
“Molding new international partnerships and strengthening our current alliances have been key to PMA-259’s endless success,” said Capt. Errol Campbell, PMA-259 program manager.
Recently welcoming Canada as its newest international partner, the team prides itself in fostering long-term relationships between the U.S. and International Partner countries vis-à-vis various Air-to-Air and Surface-to-Air missile FMS Acquisition/Sustainment cases. PMA-259 has produced and delivered several top tier missiles, such as AIM-9X (Block I and Block II/II+ SIDEWINDER), AIM9L/M (Legacy SIDEWINDER), and AIM/RIM-7 (Sparrow).
“The entire International Programs Team has worked tirelessly to maintain relationships with our international partners,” said Teeney. “From sustaining current relations to building new ones, the team has been efficient and punctual when communicating with other countries and is proud to accept this award.”