DOD ok’s sale of drones to 66 countries, waiting on Congress approval
In what appears to be the Department of Defense’s effort to placate weapons manufacturers, under new Defense Department (DoD) guidelines, up to 66 foreign nations are now eligible to purchase US made drones.
Drone MQ-9 Reaper de l’US Air Force a l’atterrissage Photo/Air Force
However, standing in the way right now is the US Congress and the US State Department which are the final say in exporting military hardware.
The list of the 66 countries was not available.
According to a Reuters report Wednesday, Richard Genaille, deputy director of the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency told attendees at the ComDef 2012 in San Diego this week that there is not a comprehensive government policy of the exports of unmanned aerial systems. He went on to say, “It hasn’t moved quite as fast as we would like, but we’re not giving up.”
Industry bigwigs praised the Obama administration for what is described as significant moves to boost arms exports, but voiced frustration at delays in codifying them in a new export policy.
U.S. arms makers are looking abroad to help offset Pentagon spending cuts spurred by U.S. deficit-reduction requirements.
The speed of this getting done is a thorn in the side of weapons manufacturers like Northrup Grumman. In fact the CEO said the company is eager for a bigger market for its Global Hawk surveillance drones. “I wish we were further along in getting that done. It’s slow, it’s painful, but we’re doing the right things to move in that direction.”
