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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/ ... 2I20140923Senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the initiative said Washington wants to support Vietnam by strengthening its ability to monitor and defend its coastline, and said unarmed P-3 surveillance planes could be one of the first sales.
Two senior Obama administration officials said discussions on easing the embargo are taking place in Washington and could result in a decision later this year.
Two senior executives in the U.S. weapons industry told Reuters they expected the U.S. government to lift the arms ban soon.
"There is a lot of discussion about allowing weapons sales to Vietnam.
It is a promising area for us," said one of the executives, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Vietnam's foreign minister, Pham Binh Minh, will visit Washington in early October for talks with Secretary of State John Kerry,
and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to go to Vietnam before the end of the year.
One Lockheed executive was quoted in April 2013 by IHS Janes, a trade publication,
as saying Vietnam could request six P-3s,
and that there appeared to be growing support in the U.S. government for approving the request.
Lockheed officials declined comment on the issue to Reuters, since such weapons sales are handled by the governments involved.
The State Department declined to say whether Vietnam had submitted a formal "letter of request" for the aircraft.
One source familiar with the issue said officials were still working through the decisions before such a request would be submitted.
U.S. government officials view sales of maritime surveillance equipment as a good start for the new chapter in U.S.-Vietnamese relations and see P-3 aircraft as a "logical choice," one source said.
