Meteor – the new Israeli UAV company. Will it succeed?

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Meteor, the new Israeli company that intends to develop “a new breed” of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), is keeping a low profile for now. The company was formed by Yitzhak Nissan, former president of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

On April 28 Nissan told i-HLS said that Meteor will develop complete operational solutions based on unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and other “robotic systems”. Israeli sources estimate that the initial investment in the company is of approximately $15 million.

The main investor is an undisclosed Israeli business man. The company is operating from a closely guarded hangar at an unknown location, and its current efforts are to reach a stage where it is capable of demonstrating at least one UAS.

Nissan refused to be specific about the current effort. Nevertheless, he did agree to say that the systems under development will comply with the MTCR-2 regulations.
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These “Missile Technology Control Regulations”, constitute an informal and voluntary partnership, not even a protocol, between 34 countries to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of carrying a 500 kg payload for at least 300 km.

Sources in the Israeli ministry of defense said that the company’s effort now is to demonstrate an affordable UAS with a max takeoff weight of about 350 Kgs.

Nissan said that he has no intention of competing with IAI. “We come with a new approach. We will help the potential customer to define his operational needs and then will tailor a solution and I mean a comprehensive one.”

Nissan was only ready to say that the new company will offer a “family of UAS that will cover a large spectrum of applications.” Sources in Israel assess that the first UAS designed by Meteor will begin flight test at the end of this year.