{"id":58415,"date":"2017-08-18T13:32:13","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T13:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/18\/general-atomics-export-restrictions-help-china-grow-its-drone-tech\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:13:24","slug":"general-atomics-export-restrictions-help-china-grow-its-drone-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2017\/08\/18\/general-atomics-export-restrictions-help-china-grow-its-drone-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"General Atomics: Export restrictions help China grow its drone tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

POWAY, Calif. \u2014 At the beginning of the century, U.S. drone makers were king, but export restrictions on UAVs have allowed China to begin closing the technology gap, the president and CEO of General Atomics said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many government entities don\u2019t understand that when the United States denies UAV manufacturers the ability to sell drones to allies and partner nations, those companies also lose the chance to provide logistics and sustainment services that bring even more business over the life cycle of the product, said Linden Blue, the company\u2019s chief executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat you are enabling the competition to do is not just to sell some hardware,\u201d he told reporters during an Aug. 16 roundtable at the company\u2019s headquarters in Poway, California. \u201cYou\u2019re enabling it to build a customer base for at least 20 years, I would say. You\u2019re enabling them to build a logistics system. It will take them many years to get to where we are right now, but you\u2019re helping them start out. They should be very thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a technical and political component to this as well, Blue said. By relinquishing UAV sales to U.S. competitors like China, the U.S. government allows those countries to learn more about how to effectively use and sustain unmanned aircraft. Perhaps even more importantly, that sale paves the way for a deeper partnership between U.S. adversaries and other nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are going to learn how to provision spare parts, they are going to learn what kind of maintenance is really necessary, they\u2019re going to learn how to integrate the UAVs into those local militaries\u2019 other assets and after a few years they will become an inextricable part of those countries\u2019 militaries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t