A top State Department official on Friday said the U.S. will push for changes to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) guidelines on unmanned aerial systems (UAS) exports in the next annual meeting.

Andrea Thompson, under secretary of state for arms control and international security, told reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast that officials will push for the changes during the upcoming November annual MTCR plenary session.

General Atomics' SkyGuardian, a variant of its Type-Certifiable Predator B UAV. Photo: General Atomics.
General Atomics’ SkyGuardian, a variant of its Type-Certifiable Predator B UAV. Photo: General Atomics.

Thompson argued that if the U.S. is not in a region able to sell this kind of UAS equipment, “there are other countries that will fill that gap– we’ve seen it.”

Although she was unwilling to provide specifics on countries or regions the government wants to sell UAS, Thompson said it depends on diplomatic strategy, a country’s relations with the U.S., and is “another tool in the toolbox” for responsible states.

“We’ve had those discussions, we’ve done the policy review, and we’re working through the MTCR on what steps need to be taken,” she added.

Expanding UAS sales is part of the Trump administration’s reforms to the Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) policy.

Last April the White House announced new reforms to the CAT, including changes to allow the direct commercial sales of UAS and eliminating a laser designation for UAS technologies that reduced sales (Defense Daily, April 19).

Then, in July, President Trump approved the implementation plan of the reforms to the CAT (Defense Daily, July 16).

Thompson was confident the U.S. will make progress by being transparent in its conversations with partners and allies, but she did not explain what specific changes the U.S. was seeking for the MTCR.

In a fact sheet, the State Department defines the MTCR as an “informal political understanding” among 34 countries that wish to limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technology. The MTCR regime relies on the members adhering to common export policy guidelines applied to a list of items. All decisions must be made unanimously by all MTCR members.

Under the current MTCR rules, rockets and UAS capable of delivering a payload of at least 500 kilograms at a range of at least 300 kilometers are considered category 1 items.

The MTCR website explains this means foreign sales of such items are subject to “an unconditional strong presumption of denial regardless of the purpose of the export and are licensed for export only on rare occasions.”