Vietnam Military awarded a contract for Drones to Israel Aerospace Industries

Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) has agreed a deal to sell drones to Vietnam.

The Heron-type-1 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be used by the Vietnamese military for a range of routine missions including maritime patrols, the Asian media reports. Over the past few days, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) has agreed a deal to sell three drones to the Vietnamese government for $160 million.

IAI Heron Type-1 surveillance and reconnaissance drone (Source: Internet) 

The Heron type-1 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be used by the Vietnamese military for a range of routine missions including maritime patrols. The UAVs will be equipped in such a way that they can take off and land automatically and will be capable of operating in extreme weather conditions.

The Heron UAVs being supplied to the Vietnamese will be able to operate up to a range of about 350 kilometers over periods of up to 50 hours and be able to carry payloads of up to 250kg, all according to the mission on which it has been sent.

The deal has finally been agreed after a protracted period of uncertainty and delays. The deal has been achieved after the personal intervention of Ministry of Defense (Vietnam) director general General Udi Adam.

Last month, IAI lost out in bids worth hundreds of millions of dollars for two major tenders for UAVs. The tenders had been issued by the Belgian and Australian militaries and both bids were won by US company General Atomics.