Drones: Israel said to be world leader in UAV exports

Israeli Drone

Israel's high-tech defense industry leads the world in exporting unmanned aerial vehicles, a new study says, while UAV designers are reported to be moving toward developing drones so advanced they could replace manned aircraft.

The international business consultancy Frost and Sullivan reports that over the last eight years Israeli manufacturers have sold UAVs worth more than $4.6 billion.

Just more than half of the deals in 2005-12 were with European states, primarily Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Russia and Spain.

A particularly large number of drones supplied to Britain's Watchkeeper UAV program, which is a joint project between Israel's Elbit Systems and the French defense multinational Thales. Watchkeeper drones are based on Elbit's Hermes 450 aircraft.

One-third of Israeli exports went to the Asia-Pacific region, including India, a major buyer of Israeli defense systems, and Azerbaijan.

Read more: Israel said to be world leader in UAV exports