"Finland's Ministry of Defense has narrowed the field in its competition to provide the Finnish army with mini unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Of the five remaining bidders, four are Israeli firms with deep ties to the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syrian Golan Heights. In addition, three of the models offered are or have been in active recent use in Israeli military operations in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and south Lebanon. The Finnish army already employs a UAV produced by Israel Aerospace Industries, as well as other "battle-tested" Israeli weapons including anti-armor missiles, artillery munitions, avionics and more.
The aviation news website Flight Global recently reported that the remaining models were the pan-European consortium EADS' DRAC model, and four models from Israeli manufacturers: BlueBird's Spylite, Elbit Systems' Skylark, the Israel Aerospace Industries Bird-Eye 650 and Aeronautics Defense Systems' Orbiter. The article noted that the Finnish army "plans to acquire 30-45 UAV systems that will include between 120 and 176 air vehicles, with the deal to have a value of around $25 million" ("Five bidders to contest Finnish UAV deal," 1 December 2010)."
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