Modernizing UAV Export Policy for Effective Coalition Forces

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are crucial technologies for modern military operations. Whether for persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, or integrated overwatch and strike operations, the United States has prototyped and operationalized a range of unmanned aircraft over the past 25 years. As the nation now positions itself to compete against high-end peer threats, American success depends upon leveraging the value of unmanned aerial systems across the spectrum of combat. Yet for the purposes of international export, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which was established to control nuclear proliferation, defines unmanned systems as nuclear missiles.