GAO Recommends Better Oversight of UAV Exports
The State Department should improve its export licensing database to better identify authorized unmanned aerial vehicle exports, GAO recommended in a report. It also said relevant agencies should improve mechanisms for sharing information relevant to the export licensing process, and that State and DOD should harmonize their UAV end-use monitoring approaches. GAO said the agencies generally agreed with the recommendations.
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Since 2005, the number of countries that acquired an UAV system grew from about 40 to more than 75, the GAO report said, and the systems became more sophisticated, with more military applications. It said the U.S. likely faces increasing risks as countries of concern and terrorist organizations seek to acquire UAV technology, which could provide them with increased abilities to gather intelligence on and conduct attacks against U.S. interests.
U.S. agencies coordinate in several ways to control the spread of UAV technology, but could improve their UAV-related information sharing, GAO said. For instance, an interagency group reviews many license applications to export UAV technology. However, there is not a formal mechanism to ensure that licensing agencies have relevant and timely intelligence information when making licensing decisions. Also, State’s licensing database cannot provide aggregate data on military UAV exports State has authorized, which may impair the U.S. government’s ability to oversee the release of sensitive UAV technology.