TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Israel's new military cooperation agreement with Russia and the planned sale of unmanned aerial vehicle technology to Moscow opens the door to possible geopolitical change in the Middle East.
But Israel is still wary of providing Russia with advanced technology that could end up in weapons systems the Kremlin sells to the Jewish state's regional adversaries.
Russia is anxious to acquire advanced Western technology more or less across the military spectrum to bolster its defense industry, which has been declining steadily since the collapse of communism two decades ago.
Russia's military equipment suffered badly from this deficiency, which has severely handicapped its once-flourishing design bureaus.
Implicit in this drive for advanced technology is that the Russians will reverse engineer what they acquire from abroad.
"We must take their knowledge and pout it to practical use," Vyacheslav Dzirkain, deputy head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, acknowledged in June 2009 after Moscow signed a landmark $53 million deal with Israel Aerospace Industries, a leading UAV manufacturer, for 12 older-generation UAVs.
The contract for IAI's Mk 150 short-range tactical UAVs and Searcher Mk 2 long-endurance craft, was Moscow first acquisition of advanced Israeli technology.
Russian defense companies, in particular aircraft maker Irkut and the Vega Radio Engineering Corp. have been unable to produce effective UV surveillance systems.
According to various estimates, the Russian military needs up to 100 advanced UAVs and at least 10 guidance systems to ensure effective battlefield reconnaissance in the event of conflict.
In January, Russia's Kommersant business daily reported the Federal Security Service, a successor agency to the KGB, had also opened negotiations with Israel's Aeronautics Defense Systems for an unspecified number of UAVs for use by its Border Guard service.
The Sept. 6 long-term military cooperation agreement marked a major advance in Russia efforts to get its hands on Israeli UAV technology.
Last Wednesday, IAI signed a $400 million agreement with Moscow for the sale of UAVS to Russian arms maker OPK Oboronprom, with assembly taking place at a Russian plant.
Jane's Defense Weekly observed that the military cooperation pact "does point to expectations of additional agreements further down the line … aping Moscow's collaborative efforts with countries such as France and Italy in export markers."
But it cautioned that the differing rationales of Russia and Israel in defense collaboration indicate "potential barriers to greater activity."
Israel appears to be motivated in part to cooperate with Russia to leverage Moscow from its commitments to provide with Iran and Syria with advanced weapons systems, particularly missiles and to signing further arms deals with such states.
But Jane's noted that Russia's growing penetration of the Middle Eastern arms market is causing unease in Israel that "a transfer of sensitive technologies to Moscow could ultimately lead to such systems finding their way to other powers" in the region.
Moscow, for its part, "which has made no secret of its technology shortfall following the research and development spending decline of the 1990s, has formed strategic partnerships and joint ventures with advanced materiel-producing nations in order to overcome its technology deficit," JDW's industry editor, Guy Anderson wrote.
"In the case of France, cooperative R&D programs have been set up between Russian state companies and DCNS," a major French warship manufacturer.
Russia currently equips its air force with advanced French avionics. "About half of Sukhoi-manufactured combat aircraft for the global market, for example, are equipped with Thales avionics," Anderson noted.
"It seems plausible, therefore, for Russia to pursue such a model in the UAV arena through a similar partnership with Israel."
Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a Moscow research institute, was quoted as saying in June that Russia intends to buy European and Israeli weapons systems worth $12 billion over the next few years.
Moscow hopes that procuring advanced systems from Western states will give a major boost to reviving Russia's defense industry, which has run down since the Cold War days when it got unlimited funding and the cream of the scientific community.
Foreign acquisitions are seen as a temporary measure to ensure that Russia's military capabilities are maintained while the defense industry is rebooted over the next 10-15 years.
