{"id":12091,"date":"2018-09-11T12:38:06","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T12:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/11\/us-to-push-new-rules-for-drone-treaty-in-november\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:44:20","slug":"us-to-push-new-rules-for-drone-treaty-in-november","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/unmanned\/2018\/09\/11\/us-to-push-new-rules-for-drone-treaty-in-november\/","title":{"rendered":"US to push new rules for drone agreement in November"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This isn’t an MQ-9 Reaper. It’s a Chinese-made CH-4 that is owned by Jordan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The United States is preparing a new push to change how unmanned systems are categorized under an international arms agreement, as part of a broad effort<\/a> to make it easier to sell military drones abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrea Thompson, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told reporters Sept. 7 that American negotiators are aiming to introduce modifications to the Missile Technology Control Regime<\/a> \u2014 an agreement among 35 nations that governs the export of missiles and drones \u2014 when the group has a November meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had those discussions, we\u2019ve done the policy review and we\u2019re working through the MTCR on what steps need to be taken,\u201d said Thompson, who added she was \u201cconfident\u201d the U.S. was engaging in a transparent way with other signatories of the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had those discussions and will continue to have those discussions up and through this engagement later this year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MTCR has long been a thorn in the side of drone advocates. The agreement covers large unmanned systems, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, because of a technicality that identified such systems as once-use missiles and not aircraft that will be reused multiple times; advocates argue that designation makes no sense for the way large UAVs are used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Systems that carry 500-kilogram payloads for more than 300 kilometers are considered \u201ccategory-1\u201d systems, which comes with a \u201cpresumption of denial,\u201d meaning countries tied into the MTCR need to have a very compelling case to sell them.<\/p>\n\n\n\t