U.S. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, head of the U.S. Central Command, has said his meetings with U.S. allies’ military and government leaders as part of his visits to countries that comprise Centcom’s area of responsibility seek to build up regional security and stability, DoD News reported Aug. 30.

Cheryl Pellerin writes Votel said maritime security is one of the areas where allies value their partnerships with the U.S.

He told the media at the Pentagon that the Suez Canal, Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait are the three maritime chokepoints that play a role in the global economy.

“Our efforts, together with the efforts of our partners and allies, help to ensure the free flow of commerce through these chokepoints and to other parts of the world,” Votel said.

He also cited Afghan forces’ adoption of security strategy to defend their sovereign spaces and the coalition’s campaign against the Islamic State militant organization in Syria and Iraq, according to the report.

The U.S. Army‘s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center has collaborated with various private technology developers and joint organizations to demonstrate an integrated system of unmanned vehicles and sensors designed to detect chemical and biological threats.

ECBC showcased its Deep Purple unmanned aerial vehicle and Mobile Detection Assessment and Response System unmanned ground vehicle as part of the SK Challenge technology demonstration at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, the Army said Wednesday.

Deep Purple and MDARS carry sensor packages that include the Tactical Biological Generation II Detector that works to identify airborne biological threat presence as well as the Joint Chemical Agent Detector that is built to detect chemical warfare agents, according to the Army.

The service branch added the sensor-mounted vehicles worked to intercept an agent simulant cloud to identify simulants during the test.

Alan Samuels, ECBC team leader and principal investigator, said Deep Purple’s chemical sensors worked to engage the cloud and recognize simulants but the TACBIO biological agent sensor needs to be miniaturized to fit the UAV.

ECBC created Deep Purple using commercial off-the-shelf parts that were developed in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Army said.

The State Department is working to establish a set of guidelines on the export and use of armed unmanned systems and has attempted to convince foreign allies to sign on the new rules, Defense News reported Thursday.

Aaron Mehta and Barbara Opall-Rome write the department aims to commence a two-pronged approach that will issue a Joint Declaration for military “strike-enabling” unmanned aerial vehicles and establish a task force that will plan a voluntary Code of Conduct for exporting and importing nations.

A department official told Defense News that agency leaders aim to attract as many countries as possible to sign the joint declaration that will then develop an international working group that discusses standards during the next phase of the strategy.

Avascent has identified 15 foreign nations interested or have “put forth money” on the procurement of armed drones that will spend a projected $13.4 billion from fiscal years 2015 to 2021.