Czech UAV manufacturer protests Israeli drones deal

The director of the Primoco UAV SE, a company manufacturing drones, Ladislav Semetkovsky, has warned that the Defence Ministry ignored Czech firms in the selection of drones and was about to buy directly the Israeli Heron 1 drones, in a letter to Prime Minister Petr Fiala, released to CTK on Monday. Semetkovsky said Primoco was the only certified manufacturer of military unmanned aerial vehicles in the Czech Republic, but the Defence Ministry permanently omitted it. He told Monday's edition of the daily Pravo that the Israeli Heron 1 UAVs, whose purchase is being negotiated by the military, were obsolete, had the highest rate of accidents and there would be a problem with its certification in NATO. Semetkovsky wrote that unfortunately, when selecting the UAVs, the Defence Ministry fully ignored the involvement of the Czech pilotless industry, choosing the form of acquisition that is beneficial neither to Czechia, nor its military nor industry.