US May Sell Armed Drones

An anonymous reader writes: Nations allied with the United States may soon be able to purchase armed, unmanned aircraft, according to an updated U.S. arms policy. Purchase requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and foreign military bodies would have to agree to a set of "proper use" rules in order for the U.S. to go ahead with the sale. For example: "Armed and other advanced UAS are to be used in operations involving the use of force only when there is a lawful basis for use of force under international law, such as national self-defense." These rules have done nothing to silence critics of the plan, who point out that the U.S. has killed civilians during remote strikes without much accountability. The drones are estimated to cost $10-15 million apiece.

Comments

Nobody gets to use the surprise face

[rmdingler]

Weapons, entertainment, and food are pretty much the bulk of American exports.

Exporting weapons that wind up being used against our own troops is fairly commonplace in this scenario, but hey, it's all about the corporate profits baby!

Re:Nobody gets to use the surprise face

[rmdingler]

We work hard to prevent nuclear proliferation ... why not prevent advanced drone proliferation as well?

They're just not that difficult to manufacture.

If American military developers are not allowed to sell theirs, someone else will.

The market share of worldwide death-dealing is a real thing.

Re:Nobody gets to use the surprise face

[gstoddart]

Don't be absurd ... America is largely about exporting IP laws these days ... you know, bullying other countries into signing treaties designed to enshrine guaranteeing profits of multinational corporations in the laws of as many countries as possible.

Apparently, America's foreign policy has mostly been co-opted by corporations, and now America just does what they're told.

America used to stand for Democracy, Liberty, and Freedom. Now it's Copyright, Patents, corporate Rent Seeking, Surveillance, and a little arms sales on the side.

You might almost say that America's principal export is the Global Oligarchy with a side of totalitarianism. Because, really, that's what it is.

Re:Nobody gets to use the surprise face

[BarbaraHudson]

Ford beats both Honda and Toyota in quality now according to Consumer reports, as reported by Time:

Ninety percent of Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln products were found to have average or better expected reliability, matching and even surpassing the scores posted by Honda and Toyota and their associated brands, such as Acura and Lexus, the magazine said.

"It's rare for Consumer Reports to see family sedans from domestic carmakers continue to beat the reliability scores of such highly regarded Japanese models as the Camry and Accord," says David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports, Automotive Test Center.

Ford's reduction in number of brands (no more Mercury) and models is paying off in increased quality.

Re:Nobody gets to use the surprise face

[d34thm0nk3y]

Look at this list from the same website:

Top Military Weapons Exporters Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of military weapons (excluding artillery products) during 2013:

1.United States: $277,159,000 (83.8% of total military weapons exports)
2.India: $9,668,000 (2.9%)
3.South Korea: $6,466,000 (2.0%)
4.Colombia: $5,000,000 (1.5%)
5.Norway: $4,766,000 (1.4%)
6.Croatia: $3,291,000 (1.0%)
7.Australia: $3,265,000 (1.0%)
8.Slovakia: $3,000,000 (0.9%)
9.Thailand: $2,910,000 (0.9%)
10.Canada: $2,814,000 (0.9%)
11.Poland: $2,293,000 (0.7%)
12.Russia: $2,005,000 (0.6%)
13.Netherlands: $1,962,000 (0.6%)
14.Senegal: $1,266,000 (0.4%)
15.Malaysia: $1,100,000 (0.3%)

Pretty sure weapons is a subset of machines in your list.

What happens when ISIS and al-Qaeda get drones?

[Anonymous Coward]

Drones are cool when only rich nation states can afford them, but it's only a matter of time before anybody can buy them, and payback will probably be "a bitch" as they say.

Re:Face it America ...

[TheCarp]

As an American myself, I really can't find any fault there. I have been saying basically the same to my countrymen for years. That said, its not us.....its the Aristocratic ruling class that we wont admit exists.

Re:And I'm sure

[spire3661]

Im glad you look at shooting million-dollar missiles as a no-cost scenario. Thank you for wasting my tax dollars.

Re:Face it America ...

[MaWeiTao]

I'm curious to know who this collective "we" is that you're talking about. There is a lot that the United States does that is cause for concern, but there's also plenty the US does to help. You give me the impression that either you're either ignorant about everything that happens around the world or you're very selective about where you get your news.

As for the US military, for a whole host of reasons the US is endlessly doing Europe's dirty work. They sure are averse to getting involved, even when something's happening in their own backyard or their own meddling was the source of those problems. And in the end, while Europe enjoys the luxury of keeping its hands clean they have no shame in getting on their high horse about American involvement around the world.

Of course, the US could always take the Chinese approach of superficially not getting involved in anything, but supporting oppressive regimes so that they can strip nations of their resources. Take a look at what they're doing in Africa.