Washington, Jan 19: Incumbent US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday aiming to prevent federal acquisition of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) manufactured by, or containing software or critical electronic components from some foreign nations, including Russia. “United States Government operations involving UAS require accessing, collecting, and maintaining data, which could reveal sensitive information. The use of UAS and critical components manufactured and developed by foreign adversaries, or by persons under their control, may allow this sensitive information to be accessed by or transferred to foreign adversaries,” Trump explained in his Monday executive order. The EO specifies that the term “adversary country” means North Korea, Iran, China, Russia, or “as determined by the Secretary of Commerce, any other foreign nation, foreign area, or foreign non-government entity engaging in long-term patterns or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national or economic security of the United States.” Trump said that within two months of his executive order the heads of all federal agencies will need to submit a report to the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy describing the specifics of all UAS currently owned or operated by the agencies. The agencies’ reports will be reviewed within 180 days of the executive order and a report will be submitted to the US president detailing any possible security risks posed by the federal UAS. (agencies)
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