Russia in talks to buy Israeli-made spy drones for $100m
Deal for IAI aircraft would triple the size of Moscow's fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles.
By Reuters Tags: Israel newsRussia is negotiating a second purchase of Israeli-made spy drones roughly twice the size of an initial $50 million sale announced in April, Israeli defense sources said on Monday.
They said the new deal with state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) would be worth about $100 million and would feature improved surveillance equipment on the pilotless planes.
"The Russians are going for a triple upgrade of their fleet and its capabilities," a defense source said.
IAI declined to comment.
Russia's war with neighboring Georgia in 2008 exposed an army with largely obsolete equipment and a lack of modern spy drones, defense analysts said.
While Georgia used Israeli drones during the five days of fighting, Russia had to rely mainly on its Tu-22 strategic bombers for battlefield intelligence.
The drone deals help improve Israeli ties with Russia, an important country in international efforts to contain Iran's nuclear program.
Russia has held up a planned sale of the S-300 air defense system to Iran. Analysts have said the S-300 could help the Iranians defend their atomic sites against possible military strikes by Israel or the United States.
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from Israel, they can start making their own and sell them to whoever they want, for example Iran. This is not the best deal Israel has ever made. And for those that think Russia is too far behind Israel to actually make their own, keep in mind the most popular personal weapon in the world (AK47) was designed by a Russian.
Denounce Iran. Cut off ties. No more arms sales to Israels enemies. You know damn well they'll tear apart the technology and use it for development and sales. Russia is not to be trusted.
The correct designation is surveillance/reconnaissance UAV. Of course, when it operates in foreign airspace, air defence can shoot it down ...
As I explained last week, the meeting with Putin and Lieberman is going to be a boon for Israeli economics. There are too many positives of Israel to keep away the buyers of the world. Oil might be in short supply to Israel from the Arab countries but Russia has excess to supply. As well Israel is working on other sources of energy. As soon as ready the world will reap the benefits. Oil will always be important but not to the tremendous advantage of the OPEC countries as before.