Kazakhstan’s defence ministry has struck an agreement with its counterpart in Tel Aviv over the supply of Israeli-made unmanned air vehicles.

No detail on the quantity or potential providers has been released, but Kazakhstan appears most interested in medium-altitude, long-endurance platforms such as the Israel Aerospace Industries Heron 1 and Elbit Systems Hermes 450.

Sources indicate that initial deliveries of complete systems will come direct from Israel, but in the longer term an assembly facility will be created in Astana, the Kazakh capital.

The new site, likely to be located at a recently launched aviation technical centre near the city, will also maintain the UAVs.

Source: FlightGlobal.com