Trump aims to crack Gulf's armed drone market with looser export restrictions
Washington's latest reinterpretation of the 35-nation MTCR agreement is expected to open the door for a potential major sale of advanced aerial weaponry to Saudi Arabia.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to further loosen the US government’s interpretation of an international agreement restricting sales of cruise missiles and unmanned drones abroad, one current and one former US official confirmed to Al-Monitor.
The US' latest reinterpretation of the 35-nation Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) entails reclassifying certain armed unmanned airborne drones as aircraft, rather than placing them in the same category as cruise missiles, one of the people familiar with the decision said.
Why it matters: The shift is expected to ease restrictions on the Trump administration's plan to sell MQ-9 Reaper drones and similar variants to Saudi Arabia, part of a massive planned arms package touted by the president in May that is also expected to include dozens of fifth-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, people familiar with the plans said.
The new legal interpretation would lessen Washington’s legal hurdles to selling an emerging generation of AI-enabled armed drones to other Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates.
