How many spy drones did Russia purchase from Israel?

MK II UAV

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Back in April, intelNews reported on a $53 million agreement between Russia and Israel to provide Moscow with three Israeli-made intelligence-gathering drones. Much was made at the time of the purchase of those unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which was interpreted as an indirect admission by Moscow that its armed forces severely lacked aerial intelligence. The purchase of the three Israel-made drones was reportedly designed to cover immediate needs, while the Russians were working on a plan to start building their own UAVs. It turns out, however, that neither the Israelis nor the Russians were quite upfront in their public announcement of the deal. Last April the two sides said that Russia would receive “three unmanned aircraft” from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). In reality, $53 million is much too high a fee to purchase just three UAVs. This puzzled Washington, which does not want to see Russia improve its aerial reconnaissance capabilities. The US Pentagon thus sought –and subsequently received– assurances from Israel that it was not planning to sell Moscow its state-of-the art, super-expensive Heron UAV model. But the Americans were correct to be suspicious of the high cost of the deal. Russian media now reports that the Russians will be receiving, not three, but twelve UAVs for their $53 million. Read more of this post