The White House has given the thumbs-up to selling armed drones to allied nations, in hopes the technology will help with counterterrorism efforts.
The new policy comes with caveats. The Washington Post reported that the requests from overseas governments to obtain the drones will be considered on a case-by-case basis and based on rules that will remain classified.
But in general, the armed drones would only go to those nations that can make a strong case for their need, and for those that vow they’ll only be used for national defense or other permitted situations, the newspaper said.
“[They’re not] to conduct unlawful surveillance or [for] unlawful force against their domestic populations,” an unclassified summary of the new U.S. policy stated, The Post reported.
The United States has so far only sold armed drones to Britain. But unarmed drones used mostly for intelligence gathering have been sold by the United States to the likes of France and Italy, and other allied nations, The Post said.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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