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Israel Delivers 12 UAVs to Russia
(UPI) Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) has delivered a dozen unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia under a $400 million contract, as part of an Israeli effort to encourage the Russians not to provide Iran and Syria with advanced weapons systems that could threaten the Jewish state. "It is reasonable... to argue that Israel viewed UAV sales and joint military technology activity as a means of bringing influence to bear on Moscow," Jane's Defense Weekly observed. The delivery stemmed from an April 2009 contract that marked Russia's first purchase of a foreign weapons system. As part of the deal, IAI trained some 50 Russian pilots at its main facility near Tel Aviv. "Israel is the world's leading exporter of drones, with more than 1,000 sold in 42 countries," said Jacques Chemia, chief engineer of IAI's UAV division.