France and Israel are set to sign their biggest defence deal in decades which will see the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) transfer its know-how for the manufacture of military drones, the Haaretz daily reported on Monday.
The deal, worth between $150 and $200-million, is the largest clinched between the two countries since France declared an embargo on Israeli weapons on the eve of the Six Day War in June 1967, the paper said.
It will be signed during the Eurosatory 2004 international exhibition for land and land-air defence that opens on Monday in Villepinte, north of Paris.
Under the deal, France’s combat aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (Eads) will acquire the necessary technology to mass-produce the Eagle-1 strategic drone.
Haaretz said France would manufacture the pilotless reconnaissance planes for export to foreign markets.
France had been buying the Eagle-1 from IAI under a 2001 arms sale agreement. – Sapa-AFP