Posted on 04/26/2013 8:24:29 PM PDT by haffast
TEL AVIV, Israel, April 26 (UPI) -- Israel, which has the most advanced defense industry in the Middle East, is in the forefront of the rapidly expanding drone business that's changing the way wars will be fought for decades to come.
With state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, Elbit Systems and Aeronautics Defense Systems developing new and more agile unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as ground and seaborne drones, the Jewish state seems well-placed to corner a big slice of a market valued at around $50 billion a year.
Indeed, Israel's widely considered to be the leading UAV exporter in the world, selling units and associated technology as far afield as India, Russia, Nigeria and Mexico.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said Israeli companies were behind 41 percent of all UAVs exported in 2001-11. Those Israeli exports went to 24 countries, including the United States.
That volume's expected to expand as production costs are relatively low. Israeli industry officials boast that it's significantly cheaper to buy an advanced UAV than it is to train an air force pilot.
"In recent years, there have been more pilotless sorties than piloted ones in the Israeli air force," observed Ophir Shoham, an army reserve brigadier general who heads the Defense Ministry's Research and Development division known by the Hebrew acronym Mafat.
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(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
I’m trying to think back. Did “The Terminator” wear a yarmulka?
Bibi is a student of the Bible and is well aware of Israels prophecied enemies.
But his military industrial complex is selling drones to those very same enemies.
Think Stuxnet.
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