Elbit bets on UK as its European drone sales hub

JERUSALEM — Elbit Systems has completed the full acquisition of drone maker UAV Tactical Systems (UTACS) in the U.K., with plans to produce models for customers across Europe at the Leicester plant.

UTACS was founded roughly two decades ago as a joint venture between the French Thales Group and Elbit, primarily to compete for drone contracts for the British Army. The venture’s main product was the Watchkeeper, which became fully operational in late 2018.

Elbit’s full ownership of UTACS comes about a year after the British government decided to gradually phase its Watchkeepers out of service.

The Israeli company’s latest drone deals include a purchase of Hermes 900 aircraft by the Singapore military. Elbit is also active in related arenas such as loitering munition with its SkyStriker family and the reconnaissance and intelligence drones with its Skylark and the Magni-X.

The Israeli and French companies did not specify the buyout amount, but Elbit notes that the UTACS purchase came after receiving all required approvals.

Tzally Greenberg is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has experience reporting on economic affairs as well as defense and cyber companies.

耶路撒冷——埃尔比特系统公司已完成对英国无人机制造商 UAV Tactical Systems (UTACS) 的全面收购，并计划在莱斯特工厂为欧洲各地的客户生产无人机型号。

UTACS公司成立于大约二十年前，是法国泰雷兹集团和埃尔比特系统公司（Elbit）的合资企业，主要目标是竞标英国陆军的无人机合同。该公司的主要产品是“守望者”（Watchkeeper）无人机，该无人机于2018年底全面投入使用。

在英国政府决定逐步淘汰其“守望者”机器人大约一年后，埃尔比特公司完全拥有了 UTACS。

这家以色列公司最近的无人机交易包括新加坡军方购买 Hermes 900 无人机。埃尔比特系统公司还在相关领域十分活跃，例如其 SkyStriker 系列巡飞弹以及 Skylark 和 Magni-X 侦察和情报无人机。

以色列和法国公司没有具体说明收购金额，但埃尔比特指出，UTACS 的收购是在获得所有必要的批准后进行的。

扎利·格林伯格是《防务新闻》的以色列记者。他拥有丰富的经济事务以及国防和网络安全公司报道经验。