YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. Exports of U.S.-made weapon systems increased 13% over the last year following a concerted effort by the Trump administration to boost the transfers in support of the defense industrial base, The Wall Street Journal reported citing the State Department.

“We’re very happy with these numbers, and we expect significant momentum and an upward trajectory of these numbers, given that a lot of these reforms will continue over the next years,” a senior State Department official told The Wall Street Journal.

Total exports in fiscal 2018 reached $192.3 billion, up from $170 billion in fiscal 2017 and $148.6 billion in fiscal 2016.

The transfers include both foreign military sales, in which arms and materials are shipped by the U.S. government to a partner country, and “direct commercial sales,” which are negotiated between the purchasing country and U.S. companies.

The value of foreign military sales grew at a faster rate of about 33%, from $41.9 billion in fiscal 2017 to $55.6 billion in 2018. Approved direct commercial sales went from $128.1 billion in 2017 to $136.6 billion in 2018, a rise of about 7%, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan