The US to Rethink Restrictions on “Large Drones” Export

Donald Trump plans to rethink the Missile Technology Control Regime policy to open up sales of large drones to foreign customers.

This was reported by Reuters, citing its own sources.

Washington intends to classify drones not as missile systems but as aircraft. This will allow the US to circumvent the restrictions of the Missile Technology Control Regime Agreement (MTCR), signed in 1987.

Under the new rules, companies such as General Atomics, Kratos, and Anduril will be able to sell large drones under a simplified mechanism through the US State Department’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system.

Currently, the MTCR significantly restricts the sale of products that fall under the classification of unmanned aerial vehicles with a flight range of 300 km and the ability to carry a payload of 500 kg – conditions that were established for cruise missiles and nuclear weapons before the advent of modern UAVs.

These requirements include, in particular, the MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance and strike drones, which were exported on a special basis only to close NATO allies of the United States, as well as India and Morocco. This fully highlights the effect of the political “presumption of denial,” which does not prohibit, but seriously limits, the possibility of sales abroad. The rethinking will allow them to be sold to the Persian Gulf and Eastern Europe.

The publication notes that the reason for the revision of the national policy is the possibility of selling more than 100 MQ-9 Reaper drones to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh made such an application in the spring, and it may be included in the $142 billion arms package announced in May. US allies in Europe and the Pacific are also showing interest in these drones.

According to U.S. officials, the updated rules should help the United States regain market leadership and not lose out to China or Turkey.

The White House may present the new policy as part of a strategy to create jobs and reduce the US trade deficit. The exact date when the changes will be announced has not yet been determined, but their presentation is expected later this year.

As a reminder, the US government recently approved the sale of more than three thousand ERAM cruise missiles with a range of over 450 kilometers to Ukraine.

The promising aerial munition weighs about 500 pounds (250 kg) and is equipped with a warhead with a combined penetrating and fragmentation effect.

The main contractor of the Ukrainian order was the American company Zone 5 Technologies with the Rusty Dagger cruise missile. Its production will be financed by Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway.