NEW DELHI, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- India is entering the rapidly expanding market for unmanned surveillance vehicles.
India's Jubilant Bhartia Group is preparing to manufacture indigenous UAVs, the Financial Express reported Monday.
Jubilant Bhartia Group has established a joint venture with Israel's Aerospace Industries Ltd., in which the Israeli company will receive a 26 percent share for an undisclosed amount, sources close to the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
IAI is Israel's leading defense corporation and the second largest UAV global provider.
Besides the Israeli military, IAI's clients include the U.S. Navy, government and private American clients, Canada, Greece, Poland, Angola among other countries. IA is also currently involved in negotiations with the Russian Federation, which is interested in its UAVs for patrolling its restive northern Caucasian provinces, which have been fighting a separatist war against Moscow since 1992.
The joint venture will soon allow India to receive its own indigenous UAV versions already successfully deployed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq against militant networks.
