LONDON — France has reported the delivery of unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs) from Israel and plans to deploy them in the NATO stabilization mission in Afghanistan.
Officials said the French military has received Israeli-origin UAVs
through the state-owned Directorate General of Armaments. They said the
deliveries took place in March 2010 for France's Special Forces Command.
"On March 8, 2010, the Directorate General of Armaments delivered the
Skylark-1 and Wasp mini-UAVs to the Special Forces Command," DGA said on
March 23.
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Skylark-1 has been identified as a tactical miniature UAV produced by
Israel's Elbit Systems. Skylark has been sold to several Western militaries,
including Australia.
"Both models add to the fleet of Skylark-1s that DGA delivered to the
special forces in 2008 and 2009," DGA said.
Wasp has been developed by the U.S. company AeroVironment. France's
military procured the first batch of Wasps in November 2009.
DGA awarded Elbit Systems a contract for Skylark in October 2009.
Officials said Skylark underwent inspection by French engineers.
France has also procured a variant of the Israeli-origin Heron UAV.
