Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles manufacturers, hailed as the world’s leading exporters of military drones a few weeks ago, are grappling with new regulations on defense exports that will limit foreign sales. The Globes business daily reports that compliance by the defense and foreign ministries with the trade laws, which tighten oversight on defense exports, will curtail UAV sales by Israel Aerospace Industries, Aeronautics Defense Systems, Elbit Systems and others. Earlier this month, the international business consultancy Frost and Sullivan anointed Israel’s defense industry the leading exporter of UAVs. It said that in 2005-12, the Israelis sold drones, mainly surveillance craft, worth more than $4.61 billion, with 2005 the best year with UAV and systems exports worth $1.7 billion. Israel’s overall defense exports averaged $6.1 billion a year in 2005-12, putting it in the leading rank with the United States, Russia, France, Germany and Britain. Frost and Sullivan forecasts that Israeli UAV exports would grow 5-10 percent through 2020, in part because the U.S. manufacturers cannot export UAVs since most of them are classified platforms. These include General Atomics’ MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper, which are widely used by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Special Forces for assassinating al-Qaida […]
Israel’s UAV makers face export curbs