Military Procurement International Vol. 19, No. 9, May 1, 2009
Copyright DAPSS S.A., 200
9, Switzerland. It is unlawful to reproduce any of this publication without written permission from the publisher.
RUSSIA
IAI
to sell TUAV systems
Under a contract valued at some US$50
million, Israel Aerospace Industries
(IAI) is to sell to the Russian Armed Forces a small number of Bird-Eye 400, I-View Mk150
and Searcher Mk II Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) systems.
This is Israel’s first UAV sale to Russia, which is upset at the poor performance of its own UAVs during the 2008 invasion of Georgia. From the Israeli point of view, the sale tightens the country’s security relations with Russia and lessens the chances that Moscow will deliver Almaz-Antey S-300 Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) systems to Iran or Syria.