Thursday, April 01, 2010

DTN News: Israel Delivers Six Heron Drones To Turkey

DTN News: Israel Delivers Six Heron Drones To Turkey Source: DTN News (NSI News Source Info) ANKARA, Turkey - April 1, 2010: Israel has delivered six more Heron type unmanned aerial vehicles to Turkey as agreed in a deal by the two countries and expects the remaining four to arrive by the end of April. Israel has trained the Turkish personnel who will operate the drones and first tests were also conducted, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul told reporters at parliament on Thursday. The long-delayed delivery of the Israeli-made surveillance drones followed Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's fence-mending trip to Turkey in January. In 2005, Turkey signed a contract with Israel to purchase 10 Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) worth more than $180 million from Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems, Ltd. Heron drone, capable of flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet for 30 hours, has been estimated by foreign experts to have a maximum operating range of 3,300 kilometers (2,000 miles). Turkey, one of the few Middle East states that has maintained diplomatic ties with Israel, remains a voiced critic of Tel Aviv's actions against the Palestinian nation, including the closure of al-Aqsa Mosque to Palestinians, the siege of Gaza, and the weeks-long offensive in the coastal sliver that left over 1,400 Gazans killed.

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