Russia and Israel are discussing the possibility of equipping Israeli aircraft with Russian laser technology. This was stated by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The Russian prime minister did not specify what kind of aircraft and lasers he was talking about.
"We are considering the possibility of equipping Israeli aircraft with our instruments, space technology and laser technology. Also, we are currently working with Israeli specialists to deploy our rangefinder laser station on Israeli territory, which could work within the GLONASS system," the agency quotes Putin.
Earlier it became known that Ehud Barak and Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov signed an agreement on military cooperation. This document will regulate the relationship between the two countries over the next five years. First Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Mikhail Dmitriev and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov also took part in the negotiations.
At the end of April 2010, the general director of the state corporation "Russian Technologies" Sergei Chemezov announced that a joint venture with Israel for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles could be created in Russia. The final decision on the creation of a joint venture will be made after the Ministry of Defense tests the purchased vehicles. As expected, this will not happen until the fall of 2010 - in the summer it is planned to complete the training of operators of Israeli devices.
In addition, Russia and Israel are engaged in the joint production of Falcon early warning and control aircraft (based on the Il-76 with Falcon electronic and radar equipment) and A-50EI (with Israeli radar systems from ELTA Electronics Industries).
