China Is Becoming A Major Drone Weapons Dealer For The World

The Wing Long UAV, Zhuhai International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, 2012.

CNBC: China: A rising drone weapons dealer to the world

The global market for military drones should hit $10 billion by the mid-2020s.

When nine members of a Shiite militia battling the Islamic State in Northern Iraq were mistakenly killed by an Iraqi errant drone strike in January, the world was surprised the Iraqi military operates drones at all — much less drones capable of striking targets on the ground. What was even more disconcerting was the fact that the Iraqi drones were made in China, a country filling a void in the drone weapons market left by the U.S.

The U.S. has agreed to export its much publicized armed-drone technology to only two allies, the United Kingdom and Italy — the latter only late last year. It's even rebuffed Jordan's requests for U.S. military drones to defend against ISIS on its border. Discerning for reasons both strategic and regulatory, the U.S. has held its military drone technology close, and its armed-drone technology closer still.

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WNU Editor: Here is an easy prediciton .... the Chinese are going to have a lot of customers.