Cyprus Purchased Israeli UAVs

Cyprus Purchased Israeli UAVs

cyprus buys israeli uavs

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Cyprus has recently acquired Israeli UAVs to monitor Turkish gas drillers in Cypriot waters. Cyprus has purchased four Aerostar Tactical UAVs for $13 million from the Israeli drone manufacturer, Aeronautics.

The UAVs will be used to monitor economic zones where foreign energy companies are searching for natural gas. Cyprus has recently accused Turkey of sending drilling ships into Cypriot waters to drill for natural resources. Turkey has sent a drill ship into a drilling zone that has been licensed over to Italian and French companies.

The Cyprus government has stated that the Turkish vessel is operating in Cypriot territorial waters according to international law. Timesofisrael.com reports that the EU, United States, and Israel has backed Cyprus in the dispute, with the United States and the EU threatening the nation with sanctions.

The UAVs purchased to monitor any illegal drilling is the Aerostar tactical UAV. Aeronautics claim that the UAV has logged over 250 thousand hours of operational flight time over 4 different continents. 

The fuel powered UAV is capable of automatically landing and taking off. It can also navigate in areas where GPS signals may be blocked. The Aerostar has a maximum takeoff weight of 450 kilograms, with a flight endurance of up to 12 hours of flight over 250 kilometers. The UAV has a maximum altitude of 18,000 feet and a maximum payload carrying capacity of 50 kilograms.

The Aerostar has a large payload bay that can support several different payloads. Some of the UAVs possible payloads include laser designators, synthetic aperture radars, electronic and infrared sensors, and other advanced payloads.

The drone has a flexible architecture design, thus making it possible to match the proper and most fitting payloads towards the UAV’s operation.

Aerostar 1080 from Videos/Marketing on Vimeo.