US reinterprets arms control agreements to relax exports of military drones.

On September 15th local time, the US State Department announced that Secretary of State Pompeo has approved a bill to redefine export control policies, which will make the export of MQ-9 "Reaper" drones and other advanced military drones more convenient. According to the new policy, drones will be classified as combat aircraft rather than missile systems, bypassing restrictions set by the United States' Missile Technology Control Regime signed in 1987. It is reported that this policy adjustment will immediately unlock over a hundred MQ-9 "Reaper" drone procurement requests made by Saudi Arabia this spring.