DOD selects 66 nations to buy US drones in effort to step up exports

A senior Defense Department official said Sept. 5 that 66 countries would be able to buy U.S.-built unmanned aerial vehices under new DOD guidelines, reports Reuters.

The list is a long one, but it might be shorter after it is reviewed by the State Department and Congress, both of which have the final word on who is eligible, the story said.

As it stands, the United States does not currently have a comprehensive U.S. government policy on UAV exports, Richard Genaille, deputy director of the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, said at the ComDef 2012 conference. The matter "hasn't moved quite as fast as we would like, but we're not giving up," he is quoted as saying in the story.

The Obama administration is interested in boosting such exports, but has moved slowly to codify the rules necessary for it to happen, according to industry officials.