New markets.
First orders.
Market entry for defense and dual-use companies selling into the United States, Europe and Ukraine, and the Middle East
The entry structure, the contract vehicle, the funding line, and the first order of record
Six documents leading to a signed order
01The eligibility map
Which entities can bid which programs, and which vehicles stay closed to a foreign supplier
Work sample: Counter-UAS Integration →
02The entry models side by side
Every route with its cost, timeline, partner, and exposure, and a verdict on each
Work sample: Ground Autonomy →
03Contracts to target
Named solicitations, programs of record, and marketplaces, ranked by fit and timing
Work sample: Drone-Mounted SIGINT →
04The funding overlay
Who pays for the first order, matched to the entry model
Work sample: UGV Market Overview →
05The channel agreement read
Distributor, reseller, and teaming agreements marked up before signature
Work sample: Scale AI →
06The in-country plan
Staffing, the validation event, and the gate to a contract in the company's own name
Work sample: International Dual-Use →Markets already opened
Military software fielded on three continents
Partnered with the engineering team on military software now in service with special operations forces in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, and with a team operating in Africa
Autonomous ground vehicles into the Gulf states
A signed engagement to bring a partner's products into the United Arab Emirates, and a defense investment vehicle structured around offset capital, with terms binding the money to technology transfer and manufacturing
Allied manufacturer into Ukraine and Europe
Three delivery models with cost, timeline, contacts, and asks, distributor exclusivity mapped country by country, and a funding overlay that lets an allied government pay for the first order
United States
The largest defense budget in the world, bought through rules written for domestic suppliers. Entry turns on eligibility before it turns on product.
- Entry structure
- What each one is allowed to bid:
- Subsidiary
- Joint venture with a domestic manufacturer
- Cleared entity under a Special Security Agreement, Proxy Agreement, or Voting Trust Agreement
- Regulations
- International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for defense articles
- Export Administration Regulations (EAR) for dual-use items
- Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review of foreign investment
- Allied access
- Qualifying countries, including Germany, France, Israel, Japan, Poland, and Sweden, whose end products are exempt from Buy American restrictions under reciprocal procurement agreements
- National Technology and Industrial Base: firms in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand counted as part of the U.S. defense industrial base
- United Kingdom and Australia: license-free trade in most defense articles under the AUKUS exemption
- Canada: the Canadian Commercial Corporation as prime contractor, backed by a Canadian government guarantee
- Contract channels
- Commercial Solutions Openings
- Other Transaction agreements
- Foreign Comparative Testing: Department of War funding to test allied products against U.S. requirements, with procurement to follow
- The Joint Interagency Task Force 401 counter-drone marketplace
- Partner terms
- Channel agreements marked up for:
- Exclusivity
- Lead registration
- Manufacturing rights
Europe and Ukraine
The fastest validation loop in defense, paid for by Ukrainian orders, allied military assistance, and new European Union instruments.
- Entry models
- Contractor-led lean entry
- Licensed assembly with a local partner
- A distributor as the infrastructure
- Validation routes
- Brave1, Ukraine's government defense tech cluster: grants, demonstrations, and feedback from the front
- Defence Procurement Agency direct contracts
- Drone coalition channels
- NATO DIANA test centres across the Alliance
- Funding
- Allied military assistance budgets
- European Union defense loans under Security Action for Europe (SAFE)
- The Danish model: allied governments paying Ukrainian producers directly
- PURL: Allies pooling funds through NATO to buy U.S. equipment for Ukraine
- Distributor terms
- Exclusivity read country by country:
- Carve-outs mapped before the next deal
- Government and NATO sales checked against the exclusivity
- Local production
- Local manufacturing precedents, and which one fits:
- Licensed munitions production with Ukrainian industry
- Joint ventures with state industry, such as Rheinmetall with Ukroboronprom
- Drone plants in Ukraine and across Europe, such as Quantum Systems and Helsing
Middle East
Israel and the Gulf states buy for different reasons. Israel writes its requirements from years of continuous combat. The Gulf states run air defense networks proven against ballistic missiles and drones, and buy through offset programs that require industry at home.
- Israel
- Requirements written from combat experience:
- U.S. Foreign Military Financing of $3.3 billion a year through fiscal 2028, increasingly spent with U.S. suppliers as offshore procurement ends
- Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) pilots and field evaluations
- Supplier and integration agreements with Elbit Systems, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, and Israel Aerospace Industries
- Gulf air defense
- Gulf states that have defended against live missile and drone attacks:
- United Arab Emirates: the first combat intercept by the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, January 2022
- Saudi Arabia: years of intercepts against ballistic missiles and drones launched from Yemen
- Offset programs
- Industrial participation, regime by regime:
- United Arab Emirates: the Tawazun Economic Program, with seven-year obligations by default
- Saudi Arabia: the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) target of more than 50% local military spending by 2030
- Sales route
- Foreign Military Sales, government to government
- Direct commercial sales, company to government
- Export licenses as required
- Local partner
- The local partner or joint venture:
- Gulf national champions: EDGE Group and Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI)
- Joint ventures and the ownership split
- Investment terms
- Terms that bind capital to:
- Technology transfer
- Local manufacturing
An allied company entering the United States
- ✓has a product
- ✕no contract of record
A United States company entering Europe or the Gulf
- ✓has a contract
- ✕no local standing
Four answers before the first meeting
The buyer
The office that can sign, and the requirement it is funded against
The vehicle
The contract route that lets that office buy from you this year
The money
The budget line, assistance fund, or offset program that pays
The awardee
The company that is allowed to receive the award
The first order of recordSigned in the company's own name
Start with one conversation
Where you sell today, the market you want next, and the route we would take to get there. No proprietary information required
Email UsPhotographs: U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Space Force. The appearance of U.S. Department of War visual information does not imply or constitute endorsement. Maps: Natural Earth.