• Download Press Kit
  • About The Books
  • Testimonials
  • Hire To Speak
  • Buy The Books

Dr. Hans C. Mumm

Author & Entrepreneur

  • Bio
  • Recent Appearances
  • Gallery
  • Event Calendar
  • Contact

December 18, 2018

China is driving use of armed drones in Mideast, says British think tank

China is driving use of armed drones in Mideast, says British think tank

By: Zeina Karam, The Associated Press


A model of the Wing Loong II weaponized drone hangs above the stand for the China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corp. at a military drone conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Jon Gambrell/AP)

 BEIRUT — The use of armed drones in the Middle East, driven largely by sales from China, has grown significantly in the past few years with an increasing number of countries and other parties using them in regional conflicts to lethal effects, a new report said Monday.

The report by the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, found that more and more Mideast countries have acquired armed drones, either by importing them, such as Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, or by building them domestically like Israel, Iran and Turkey.

China has won sales in the Middle East and elsewhere by offering UAVs at lower prices and without the political conditions attached by the United States.

The Associated Press reported earlier this year that countries across the Middle East locked out of purchasing American-made drones are being wooed by Chinese arms dealers, helping expand Chinese influence across a region vital to American security interest.

It noted the use of Chinese armed drones across Mideast battlefields, including in the war on Yemen, employed by the Emirati Air Force. Iran has also violated Israeli airspace with armed UAVs from bases in Syria, provoking armed Israeli response on the suspected bases.

The RUSI report, titled “Armed Drones in the Middle East: Proliferation and Norms in the Region,” said that by capitalizing on the gap in the market over the past few years, Beijing has supplied armed drones to several countries that are not authorized to purchase them from the U.S., and at a dramatically cheaper price.

“China, a no-questions-asked exporter of drones, has played and is likely to continue playing a key role as a supplier of armed UAVs to the Middle East,” it said.

The report explored where and how each of the states have used their armed drones and whether they have changed the way these countries approach air power. It found that Iran, the UAE and Turkey all changed the way they employ air power after they acquired armed drones.

For Turkey and the UAE, armed drones enabled them to conduct strikes in situations where they would not have risked using conventional aircraft, it said. Iran developed armed drones from the outset specifically to project power beyond the reach of its air force, which is hamstrung by obsolete aircraft and sanctions, the report added.

The report said it remains to be seen whether and how the loosening of restrictions on the export of armed drones by the Trump administration will alter dynamics in the region. The administration in April permitted U.S. manufacturers to directly market and sell drones, including armed versions, although the government must still approve and license the sales.

Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, who authored the report along with Justin Bronk, said proliferation of armed drones in the Middle East is unlikely to stop and could accelerate despite changes introduced by the U.S. administration.

“Over the past two years the sales have increased massively and they are likely to increase even more,” she said. “This kind of collaboration is just going to grow especially in cases where countries don’t have the capacity to build them themselves.”

https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2018/12/17/china-is-driving-use-of-armed-drones-in-mideast-says-british-think-tank/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ebb%2018.12.18&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

Dr. Hans C. Mumm

Article by Hans Mumm / Leadership

Connect With Me!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

A Congressional Record to one of our Nations Heroes

What’s New

  • American Robotics Becomes First Company Approved by the FAA To Operate Automated Drones Without Human Operators On-Site
  • Biometrics, drones and robotic guards: Inside Hong Kong’s first ‘smart prison’
  • U.S. Air Force funds adaptation of automotive radar for autonomous “flying cars”
  • The Countries Whose Governments are the Most Prepared for Drones
  • Milirem’s Type-X robotic armored combat vehicle begins ground testing

Buy The Book

Buy Now on Amazon

Hire Me To Speak

Speaker Dr. Hans C. Mumm
  • Home
  • About
  • Press Kit
  • Hire To Speak
  • The Book
  • Calendar
  • Appearances
  • Buy Book
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Site Map

Copyright © 2021 — Dr. Hans C. Mumm • All rights reserved.