MOSCOW. March 9 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia and France will jointly develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the interests of the armed forces, a high-ranking official of the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
"It will be a reconnaissance UAV, not an attack UAV, which will accomplish missions within the armed forces structure," the official told Interfax-military News Agency.
The UAV will be commissioned by both Russia and France and will be offered to third countries. "An agreement on joint UAV development was achieved during Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov's visit to Paris on March 3-5," the official said.
The parties also agreed on joint upgrade of Russian MI-24 Hind and MI-26 Halo helicopters, in particular, on fitting the helicopters with French avionics, he noted.