New Act Fast-Tracks Defense Exports to UK and Australia by Cutting Licensing Red Tape

The Special Relationship Military Improvement Act of 2025 is designed to streamline how the U.S. exports defense items—think everything from tactical equipment to specialized technology—to the United Kingdom and Australia. Essentially, this bill is about cutting bureaucratic corners to make military trade flow faster with two of our closest allies.

The UK Gets the Canada Treatment

The big change here is how the UK is now treated under the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). Currently, Canada benefits from certain exemptions that make defense trade easier. This bill specifically adds the UK to that list (SEC. 2), meaning the UK now gets the same procedural benefits as Canada regarding certain existing export provisions. But the real streamlining comes next: the bill removes the requirement for the U.S. to sign a formal bilateral agreement before granting the UK an exemption from standard defense item licensing requirements. This means we can move faster to exempt the UK from needing a license for certain exports, skipping a major paperwork step.

For defense contractors, this is huge. It means less time waiting for government approvals and faster sales. For the agencies responsible for national security, however, removing that mandatory bilateral agreement step takes away a layer of high-level governmental scrutiny. While it speeds things up, it reduces a procedural check that ensures both countries are fully aligned on the terms of the export exemptions before they kick in. Think of it like swapping a detailed, signed contract for a handshake—it’s faster, but some might worry about the oversight.

Australia: Streamlining, But With Serious Carve-Outs

The bill also works to make the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty with Australia run smoother by waiving the bilateral agreement requirement there, too. But here’s where the bill draws a very firm line in the sand: it explicitly carves out some of the most sensitive military technology, ensuring those items still face the highest level of control, even with the new treaty exemption.

Specifically, the U.S. must not exempt items like advanced missile technology (those capable of carrying a 500-kilogram payload over 300 kilometers), nuclear weapons technology, and biological or chemical agents (SEC. 2). These are the crown jewels of military tech, and the bill makes it crystal clear they remain under strict licensing rules. For a U.S. company that develops next-generation propulsion systems, for example, they still have to go through the full, rigorous licensing process for those specific parts, regardless of the new streamlined treaty.

This balance is important. The bill says, “We trust you, UK and Australia, and we’re making trade easier,” but it immediately follows up with, “...but for the really scary stuff, we are keeping the full security apparatus in place.” It also includes a crucial provision that the exemption won't apply if Australian law would prevent them from enforcing the control measures the U.S. requires. This is the government making sure that if we sell something sensitive, our ally has the legal teeth to keep it secure.