March 29,2008:
French special operations (commando) forces have joined Canada and Australia
in buying the Israeli Skylark UAV systems (three ten pound UAVs, plus one set
of ground control equipment). The
Skylark, like most micro-UAVs, is a battery powered plastic aircraft. It can
stay up for 90 minutes per flight and can operate up to ten kilometers from the
base station (radio gear and a laptop computer). The UAV can be equipped with
night vision video equipment, or a color day camera. The Israelis pioneered the
development of UAVs that worked (the U.S. spent a lot more money on UAVs, never
quite getting it right, before buying Israeli systems and getting on the right
track.) Skylark is used by the Israeli army and has a good track record.
The United
States has over a thousand micro-UAVs in Iraq and Afghanistan. French troops
apparently saw the U.S. and Israeli micro-UAVs in action in Afghanistan. Ten
different firms responded to the French call for bids. The size of the sale was
not revealed, but probably involves at least a few dozen of the ten pound UAVs,
and several million dollars (to include training and support.)