“I believe they were required to form a US branch to be eligible to compete for military work.”
A US branch means the profits go back home. It still means they are foreign owned. And despite all the hoopla, no nation on earth builds better firearms than the USA. Some procurement officer has a job waiting.
“...no nation on earth builds better firearms than the USA...”
But...but...they build those awful, evil “ghost guns” that no one can see, especially libs. Better to go with our euro “friends”. “Friends” that are under “control”. /s