The Predator B’s weapons, avionics and comms suites will all need to be specially configured to meet the needs of India’s military.

The new satellite export control rules being finalized by the Commerce and State Depts. will take into account the “need to maintain export controls with some countries, while streamlining them for others,” says Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Nicholas Eftimiades, a former senior US senior intelligence officer, said the Trump Administration policy “is very surgical in its approach,” and will have only a “moderate impact” on allied countries.

  UPDATED WASHINGTON: US commercial satellite sales to AsiaSat, and the company’s leasing of communications bandwidth to China, are not threats to US national security, say experts — contrary to charges by Republican Senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst. Instead, US export control law very deliberately has been crafted to encourage such sales in a… Keep reading →

Fabrizio Boggiani, senior vice president of airborne marketing, says he sees “significant opportunities” for expanding Leonardo’s market share by selling mission packages to international institutions and countries who don’t “want to buy and own the asset, but want us to fly where they ask us to fly.”

WASHINGTON:  As China forges ahead trying to grab the head of the technology table by throwing money, policy and people at quantum computing and artificial intelligence, the US should carefully watch what companies China invests in or tries to buy. Those were the conclusions of three of the top China and technology experts in Washington… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: Adm. John Richardson sailed through his Senate confirmation hearing this morning. But two ominous issues breached the surface, hinting at growing conflict between the administration and Hill Republicans over how to handle China. Richardson, an experienced submariner nominated for Chief of Naval Operations, deftly dodged the difficult questions from Senate Armed Services Committee: Does US-China… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: Take my mission — please. The armed services are notorious for overselling their capabilities and grabbing turf to justify budgets. But when it comes to ballistic missile defense, the Navy feels so overburdened that it is talking up land-based alternatives as superior to its vaunted Aegis ships. [Click here for Part I of this… Keep reading →

PARIS AIR SHOW: A cyber ad? Hey, it’s an air show, Raytheon. Of course, there’s no law against selling anything at an air show, but defense companies traditionally do sell planes, sensors, avionics, support equipment, et al. So when I spotted the big ad placed where about half of show attendees have to pass on their… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: It’s been a big week for arms exports. But sometimes the big story isn’t what you think. While headlines have focused on the US government’s decision to allow limited exports of armed drones, arguably the most important export policy change involved a material called gallium nitride (GaN). “The gallium nitride story is an under-reported… Keep reading →