Are exported private keys in GPG still encrypted?

Solution 1:

Exported secret keys are encrypted by default, however --export-options export-reset-subkey-passwd will produce an unprotected export:

When using the --export-secret-subkeys command, this option resets the passphrases for all exported subkeys to empty. This is useful when the exported subkey is to be used on an unattended machine where a passphrase doesn't necessarily make sense. Defaults to no.

Solution 2:

Are exported secret keys still protected by their passphrase? You could find the answer to this so easily by exporting and then importing a secret key.

GnuPG has no simple way to export a private key in the way you describe. I can only hope you have a good reason for wanting to do this, and that you're aware of how dangerous it is to let the bits and bytes of an unprotected private key touch a disk. That said, the only option I see is to remove the passphrase before exporting...

gpg --edit-key KEYID
> passwd
> *(Press Enter twice, i.e., use a blank passphrase)*
> save

PS: This should be moved to Superuser; it's off-topic here.