“To amend the Arms Export Control Act to address arms export controls for certain unmanned aircraft systems and items, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section amends the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778 et seq.) to require that covered unmanned aircraft systems and related items—defined as reusable systems controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and enumerated in the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Annex—be treated as manned aircraft systems (rather than launch vehicles, missile technology, or missile equipment) for arms export licensing and transfers. (As background, the MTCR is a multilateral regime restricting proliferation of missile systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction; certain drones have previously been controlled as Category I cruise missiles with stringent limits on exports, technology transfers, and co-production.) It further establishes a U.S. policy statement treating such systems as manned aircraft for MTCR implementation and directs the President to amend ITAR regulations (22 C.F.R. parts 120 and 121) within 180 days of enactment to (1) apply the same export controls, criteria, and guidelines to covered systems as to manned aircraft; (2) review them under criteria specific to their characteristics, distinct from missile controls; and (3) exempt them from MTCR missile restrictions, including for co-production and co-development with allies. (Thus, this facilitates exports and allied cooperation on qualifying reusable drones previously subject to tighter missile controls.)