America Needs To Command The Unmanned Skies

We’re seeing mounting concern about how much China may be gaining on America’s traditional lead in advanced technology, whether it’s AI and super computers or 5G and quantum, which are the future of the high-tech frontier. But there’s one area where China’s push to overtake the U.S. has been so blatant and brazen and successful that, unless the U.S. government sharply revises some of its long-standing policies, we will do irreparable damage to our military technological edge for decades—but also to our international alliance system.

That area is what experts call unmanned or remotely piloted aerial systems (UAS), in other words the world of military drones. If you thought systems like the MQ9 Reaper and Global Hawk and Fire Scout made us world-beaters in the future of air power, think again. An outdated and misconceived international agreement has crippled the U.S.’s ability to lead that future, while allowing China’s UAS industry to surge ahead on a global scale.

Right now, it’s actually easier for an allied country to buy our most advanced manned fighters like the F-18 or F-35, than it is to buy an unmanned, unarmed helicopter like Fire Scout.

The agreement in question is the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), and a brand-new study by the Mitchell Institute’s Heather Penney persuasively spells out the problem. Since 1987America has voluntarily adhered to MTCR protocols which are aimed at limiting the export and proliferation of ballistic missile technology that could be used to deliver weapons of mass destruction.

Since 1992 the MTCR’s scope has included unmanned aircraft or drones. That restriction on their export made sense thirty years ago when UAS were essentially target drones; the worry was they could be turned into flying bombs. Since then the U.S. has made enormous leaps in the sophistication and capability of UAS thanks to companies like General Atomics and Northrop Grumman. Now our military services and other agencies regularly fly drones that not only target terrorists but carry out a wide range of invaluable intelligence and surveillance missions with astonishing range and endurance in the air. The Global Hawk can reach altitudes of 60,000 feet while the MQ 9 Reaper can do 42 hours aloft without refueling. All this, while their “pilots” sit safely back home at his or her air base.

These advanced systems, with their sophisticated sensor and communications systems and ability to pack a powerful lethal punch with their payloads, represent the future of American air power. But MTCR’s restrictions have made it  impossible to share that technology even with our closest allies. When South Korea, for example, wanted to purchase the Global Hawk to keep its eyes on developments in North Korea, it had to jump through years of bureaucratic hoops backed by executive orders, just to buy four.

As the Mitchell report reveals, other U.S. allies haven’t been so lucky or patient. When the State Department turned down UAS purchases by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates because of MTCR, those countries decided to buy from our leading antagonist instead, namely China—which is on track to become a dominant player in the global military drone market (with designs, needless to add, stolen from our own drone makers).

A report from the Defense Intelligence Agency last year pointed out that China “faces little competition for sale of such systems” because of MTCR.    

Heather Penney also points out that when Boeing tried to partner with Australia to supply that ally with UAS, the company had to set up an entirely new company and facility in Australia, because MTCR would have blocked building the same UAS here at home.   

All this is bad, not only for American jobs but for the basic principle of interoperability with allied air forces and services. If they’re using China-built systems, we won’t be able to share data and intelligence, even in emergency or combat conditions.  

What’s the answer? We need Congress and administration to act, decisively and all deliberate speed.

First, declare that as far as America is concerned MTCR restrictions will only apply to missile technology proper, and not to UAS which are technically aircraft not missiles, and should be treated as such.

Second, keep our existing UAV fleet in being. The Air Force’s fiscal year 2021 budget called for ending purchases of MQ-9 Reapers and retiring more than two-thirds of its RQ-4 Global Hawk fleet. Congress needs to amend the Pentagon budget to make sure our own UAS stay on duty and in the air.

Finally, make building out our UAS industry a priority for America’s plans for reshoring manufacturing.  America’s aerospace companies large and small know that UAS are the future of military aviation and air power.  

We need to make sure that future doesn’t bear the trademark “MADE IN CHINA.”