By Franz-Stefan Gady
However, many restrictions will remain in place.
The United States will authorize for the first time the export of armed drones to allied nations, according to media reports. The new policy has been announced this Tuesday. The exact rules will remain classified but, according to Reuters, requests by foreign governments will be examined on a case by case basis and allied states must agree to certain “end use assurances.”
States interesting in purchasing U.S. armed drones have to agree to a set of “proper use” principles and, according to an unclassified summary of the policy, not use UAVs “to conduct unlawful surveillance or [for] unlawful force against their domestic populations.” So far, the United States has only exported lethal drones to the United Kingdom. Other allies, such as France and Italy, have purchased unarmed U.S. drones in the last few years, but have not been provided with weapons.
“The technology is here to stay. It’s to our benefit to have certain allies and partners equipped appropriately,” summarized a senior State Department official the rationale behind the decision. In the past, the State Department in particular has been worried that an easing of export restrictions would weaken broader non-proliferation regimes.
Read the full story at The Diplomat