WarSclerotic

MOSCOW, Jan. 22 (UPI) — Russia’s Federal Security Service, successor to the KGB, is reportedly negotiating with Israel to purchase advanced unmanned aerial vehicles for border surveillance amid a torrent of complaints by the military about the poor quality of Russian-built drones.

Russian business newspaper Kommersant reports that the security service, known by its Russian acronym FSB, seeks at least five high-performance Orbiter UAVs from Israel’s Aeronautics Defense Systems.

Israel is a world leader in developing and manufacturing advanced UAVs. Its military forces have used them extensively for surveillance of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and in Lebanon, its northern neighbor.

It has also used missile-armed UAVs for airstrikes, including the assassination of militant leaders on both fronts in recent years.

The Orbiter has a silent electric motor that reduces detection from the ground. It can carry a payload — video cameras and transmitters — of around 3.5 pounds at a maximum altitude of around 8,500 feet for two to three hours.

“That the FSB should express interest in UAVs is not surprising,” according to the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, which monitors global security issues.

“There are a number of locations where they would enhance border security, ranging from the Russian-Kazakh border to potential conflict zones such as Abkhazia, South Ossetia as well as in the North Caucasus.

“The deterioration in the security situation in the North Caucasus is undoubtedly a factor in the timing of the FSB initiative, since special services are at the forefront of combating the rising tide of insurgency.”

The reported move to buy Orbiters followed the Russian Defense Ministry’s purchase of 12 UAVs from Israel in April 2009 for $53 million.

The acquisition from state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries of Bird-Eye 400 mini-UAVs, I-View Mk 150 tactical UAVs and Searcher Mk 2 medium-range craft was the first sale of Israeli drones to Russia.

According to various sources, the Russian military wants up to 50 Israeli UAVs, particularly long-range endurance craft.

Russia’s efforts at developing its own UAVs have been unsuccessful. These include aircraft and helicopter UAVS known as the ZALA 421-04M and ZALA 421-06 produced by the Izhevsk Company Bespilotnyye Sistemy, or Unmanned Systems, for the FSB that were deployed in May 2009.

Other domestically manufactured UAVs, such as the Irkut-10, were delivered to the military as well. The Orbiter is a direct competitor of the Irkut-10 and the Eleron-10.

The Russians have sought for years to develop their own UAVs. But the brief war with Georgia in 2008 showed that their domestically produced surveillance platforms were less than satisfactory.

The Russians, however, were impressed by Georgia’s use of Israeli Hermes 450 tactical UAVs built by Elbit Systems.

Israel has been reluctant to sell its UAVs to the Russians because it feared they would steal the technology by reverse engineering. Indeed, Russian officials have made no secret about their intentions.

But there has been speculation that Israel decided to make the sales in return for Moscow not supplying Iran with advanced air-defense missiles to protect its nuclear facilities, which the Israelis threaten to attack.

On Jan. 16 Russian newspaper Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye commented that the FSB’s disclosure of its interest in foreign UAVs was probably “a mechanism to exert additional pressure on the defense industry” to come up with better designs.

“Such pressure is now mounting from various quarters, including the Defense Ministry, Prime Minister Valdimir Putin and Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov,” Jamestown reported.

“The FSB has now joined the chorus of complaints from the army and the air force demanding superior quality drones.”