Trump administration eases technology restrictions to Saudi Arabia
The Trump has eased satellite technology restrictions that had been placed on Saudi Arabia and the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
It is believed that the Washington, DC, discussions between the U.S. and the Saudis saw agreements on U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and also on common approaches towards containing Iran. Of particular significance, however, is the agreement by the U.S. to lift export restrictions on strategic technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles and reconnaissance satellites to Saudi Arabia, and potentially to other GCC countries.
It is believed that Saudi Arabia is in the market for two to eight high-resolution reconnaissance satellites over the coming years, and it is known that French companies Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space have partnered together to offer electro-optical reconnaissance satellites similar to the Falcon Eye satellites being built for the United Arab Emirates.
This change will also benefit U.S. satellite makers, giving them a better chance at winning Saudi contracts. At the same time, it makes available to these Middle East Islamic nations some high level technology that could be used against us.
Update: While his administration has quietly widened cooperation with Saudi Arabia, President Trump is publicly complaining that the Arab country takes advantage of the U.S.
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The Trump has eased satellite technology restrictions that had been placed on Saudi Arabia and the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
It is believed that the Washington, DC, discussions between the U.S. and the Saudis saw agreements on U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and also on common approaches towards containing Iran. Of particular significance, however, is the agreement by the U.S. to lift export restrictions on strategic technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles and reconnaissance satellites to Saudi Arabia, and potentially to other GCC countries.
It is believed that Saudi Arabia is in the market for two to eight high-resolution reconnaissance satellites over the coming years, and it is known that French companies Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space have partnered together to offer electro-optical reconnaissance satellites similar to the Falcon Eye satellites being built for the United Arab Emirates.
This change will also benefit U.S. satellite makers, giving them a better chance at winning Saudi contracts. At the same time, it makes available to these Middle East Islamic nations some high level technology that could be used against us.
Update: While his administration has quietly widened cooperation with Saudi Arabia, President Trump is publicly complaining that the Arab country takes advantage of the U.S.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
yeah, this is the part where Marx says, (paraphrase) “The ‘Capitalists’ will sell us the rope, by which we will hang them.”
I do think that people are ignoring the tactical benefits of providing the complex equipment these nations want to use. In particular, the ability to build in back doors to shut them down, if their masters do decide that the Caliphate Revivalists are a better bet than industrial society to end up on top, is a great advantage. I do doubt either side in the negotiations overlooked this little point.
Tom Billings–
har…that would be, me.
but, >Great stuff, nonetheless!
(just an amateur but I sorta view all ‘technology’ as “dual-use.” We need to be aware if we’re giving aware the farm and/or auctioning it off, to the highest bidder.)
Will the Export Import Bank be financing these future sales?
Sorry– just being cynical while listening to some Victor Davis Hanson on how the 2nd/3rd World is parasitic upon “western technology” (and manufacturing ability).
I wonder if there’s a back door in my next vehicle – and no, I don’t mean a hatchback.
Saudi Arabia spends more on its military than Russia, and that was before the war in Yemen, one of the wrold’s poorest countries with arms mainly from the 1950s, where the Saudis are stuck in a ditch. They don’t know how to use modern weapons systems. They are used to throwing stones and blowing themselves up. But they could hire foreign mercenaries. It is in any case not a good idea to feed the monkies.
Laurie, I think this might be the back door you are referring to,https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/03/09/hastings-m09.html?view=article_mobile
Laurie:
You can count on it! I was just reading this morning how Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/GPS has been a godsend to the delinquent car loan repossession companies.
A repossessor will track your car when you leave your home. They will walk up with the access codes on the keyless entry, start it, and drive away while you’re in at work or at the store.
Court judgments, cops, divorce settlements are all taking avantage of this.
Let’s hope North Korea doesn’t hack the car company and scramble all the access codes for all their newer vehicles… Or any hacker for that matter. Or worse, use a Saudi Arabian satellite to broadcast a shutdown code for everyone on the freeway.
You’ve heard that Saudi Arabia was elected a seat on UN’s commission for women’s rights(!!!). Belgium says that it voted for it by mistake. Sweden refuses to say how they voted. Stupid coward corrupt liberal democracies in the UN, the dictators’ democracy.
“At one point, the Trump Organization incorporated several limited liability companies in preparation for an attempt to build a hotel in Saudi Arabia, but the company canceled these corporations in December, which suggests that the project is no longer moving forward. Also not included on the list was the United Arab Emirates, where Trump has licensed his name to a Dubai golf resort and other developments. Trump also spoke with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince Sunday.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/01/30/donald-trumps-already-complicated-relationship-with-saudi-arabia/?utm_term=.b7fd75b66820
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/countries-where-trump-does-business-are-not-hit-by-new-travel-restrictions/2017/01/28/dd40535a-e56b-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html?utm_term=.cb8ecc54b375&tid=a_inl