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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-20/general-atomics-gains-approval-to-sell-predator-drones-to-pakistan-egypt.html
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., the privately held maker of Predator drones, said it has won U.S. approval for an export version of the unmanned plane that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are interested in buying.
“There’s interest from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates,” Frank Pace, president of the Poway, California-based company, said in an interview at the Farnborough Air Show near London today. The U.S. recently approved the company’s request for an unarmed version of the Predator drone for export to countries beyond the NATO block, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Pace said.
The company may sell as many as 100 of the so-called Predator XP models that is approved for export, Pace said. General Atomics has sold about 435 Predator series of drones. The average price of the plane ranges from about $4 million for the basic model to about $15 million for the latest Avenger version, according to spokeswoman Kimberly Kasitz.
“Saudi Arabia is a huge country and if they want to cover the country well they alone could get 50 aircraft,” Pace said.
The export version of the Predator, based on the model used by the U.S. Army and the Air Force, will lack the ability to carry weapons and will be designed only for surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Pace said.
General Atomics also builds the Predator B model with extended range and a newly launched Predator C or Avenger version that can evade enemy radar. Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman Corp., and Lockheed Martin Corp., also make unmanned air vehicles used by the U.S. military for surveillance and armed missions.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., the privately held maker of Predator drones, said it has won U.S. approval for an export version of the unmanned plane that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are interested in buying.
“There’s interest from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates,” Frank Pace, president of the Poway, California-based company, said in an interview at the Farnborough Air Show near London today. The U.S. recently approved the company’s request for an unarmed version of the Predator drone for export to countries beyond the NATO block, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Pace said.
The company may sell as many as 100 of the so-called Predator XP models that is approved for export, Pace said. General Atomics has sold about 435 Predator series of drones. The average price of the plane ranges from about $4 million for the basic model to about $15 million for the latest Avenger version, according to spokeswoman Kimberly Kasitz.
“Saudi Arabia is a huge country and if they want to cover the country well they alone could get 50 aircraft,” Pace said.
The export version of the Predator, based on the model used by the U.S. Army and the Air Force, will lack the ability to carry weapons and will be designed only for surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Pace said.
General Atomics also builds the Predator B model with extended range and a newly launched Predator C or Avenger version that can evade enemy radar. Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman Corp., and Lockheed Martin Corp., also make unmanned air vehicles used by the U.S. military for surveillance and armed missions.
