The Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) has announced that it will be adjusting the review policy to ensure U.S. partners receiving such items can employ them in a manner that will “minimize collateral damage and mitigate harm to civilians.”
The announcement notes that the “responsible and effective employment of PGMs requires advanced target development (ATD) capabilities including weaponeering, collateral damage estimation (CDE), and target coordinate mensuration (TCM, also referred to as Precision Point Mensuration or PPM) for coordinate-seeking weapons.” Going forward, any licenses for the export of such items will continue to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. However, DDTC will now also confirm that the “foreign end-user government possesses or is in the process of procuring sufficient U.S., indigenous, or third-party ATD capabilities with respect to the PGMs considered for transfer.” The announcement provides a listing of covered PGMs and critical components, noting that such items likely fall under U.S. Munitions List Categories III, IV, V, and XI.