(Defense Industry Daily) The Indian government has approved the purchase of ten armed UAVs from Israel Aerospace Industries for $400 million following a fast-tracking of the program by the Modi administration. Israeli-made Heron-1 drones played a crucial part in search and rescue operations following the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004. IAI Searcher tactical UAVs and and their Heron counterparts were used to locate trapped survivors and missing bodies near the Andaman and Nicobar islands. As of 2011, leased Herons or Heron variants are operating in Afghanistan on behalf of the Australian, Canadian, French, and German armed forces. Subsequent years have also seen confirmed or reported export sales to Brazil's federal police, Ecuador's navy, Singapore's armed forces, and Turkey.
2016-10-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive