US to allow FMS sales to allied countries of some armed military UAVs

Obama administration to allow allied countries to buy military drones - LA Times

Obama administration to allow sales of armed drones to allies - The Washington Post
US to Allow Export of Armed Military Drones | Military.com

Obama administration unveiled a new policy Tuesday allowing foreign allies to buy military drones, a move that could have potentially far-reaching implications for global security partnerships and the U.S. aerospace industry.

For years, American drone makers have been eager to feed the international appetite for the high-tech unmanned aircraft that have reshaped modern warfare, but U.S. export regulations have prevented them from doing so.


The change of policy could result in a windfall for the aerospace industry in Southern California, where much of drone manufacturing is centered. In its latest assessment of the industry, aerospace research firm Teal Group Corp. estimated that drone spending would almost double to $11.5 billion in 2024.

Northrop Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. assemble drones in Palmdale. In Poway in San Diego County, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. builds the armed Predator and Reaper drones that have become the centerpiece of U.S. counterterrorism missions.


U.S. Export Policy for Military Unmanned Aerial Systems

Enhanced Controls on the Export of U.S.-Origin Military UASs


The United States is committed to stringent standards for the sale, transfer, and subsequent use of U.S.-origin military UAS. The United States’ new UAS export policy establishes the standards by which the United States will assess, on a case-by-case basis under the U.S. Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, potential exports of military UASs, including armed systems. The new export policy puts in place stringent conditions on the sale or transfer of military UAS, including potential
requirements for:

• Sales and transfers of sensitive systems to be made through the government-to-government Foreign Military Sales program;
• Review of potential transfers to be made through the Department of  Defense Technology Security and Foreign Disclosure processes;
• Each recipient nation to be required to agree to end-use assurances as a condition of sale or transfer;
• End-use monitoring and potential additional security conditions to be required; and
• All sales and transfers to include agreement to principles for proper use.

MCTR Regime Countries

The new policy also maintains the United States’ long-standing commitments under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which subjects transfers of military and commercial systems that cross the threshold of MTCR Category I (i.e., UAS that are capable of a range of  at least 300 kilometers and are capable of carrying a payload of at  least 500 kilograms) to a “strong presumption of denial” for export but also permits such exports on “rare occasions” that are well justified in terms of the nonproliferation and export control factors specified in the MTCR Guidelines.


US Authorizes Sale of Armed Drones | The Diplomat

A June 2014 report by the Stimson Center’s Drone Task Force, noted on this subject that, “The U.S. government should also inquire into the broader non-proliferation effect of the MTCR Category I presumption of denial. The U.S. government should determine whether, in the long run, the presumption remains a useful non-proliferation tool or inadvertently fosters the growth of foreign UAV manufacturing capability by suppressing the participation of U.S. industry in the global MTCR
Category I UAV market.” However, no further details on the exact policy governing the sales of Category I drones have been made publicly available as of now.


Today, a State Department official merely provided a broad rationale behind the loosening of  restrictions to Reuters: ”The new policy ensures appropriate participation for U.S. industry in the
emerging commercial UAS [unmanned aerial systems] market, which will contribute to the health of the U.S. industrial base, and thus to U.S.  national security, which includes economic security. As with any other sale, all UAS sales will continue to be reviewed for human rights,  regional power balance, and other implications.