Russia may buy a large new consignment of unmanned aerial vehicles from Israel and 24 command and control systems worth around $50 million in the foreseeable future, a high ranking source in the Russian defense industry said on Wednesday.

Israel Aerospace Industries previously delivered to Russia two Bird Eye-400, eight I-View Mk150 and two Searcher Mk.2 UAVs, totaling $53 million.

"The Defense Ministry is considering the possibility of purchasing from the Israeli company Aeronautics Defense Systems of three types of UAV control systems (eight each): Orbiter 2, Aerostar, Skystar," the source said.

The consensus within the Russian Defense Department seems to be that these systems are essential until the domestic industry develops and starts large scale manufacturing of similar systems at home, he added.

Russian helicopters proving popular
Russia intends to build more than 300 helicopters this year. In total, they will cost 150 bln rubles.

This is what Director General of the Russian company "Vertolyoty Rossii" (which means "Russian helicopters") Dmitry Petrov said at an international exhibition of helicopters in Moscow.

Mr. Petrov also said that currently, Russia produces 9% of the world's civil helicopters and 22% of military helicopters.

India, China and former Soviet republics prefer Russian helicopters to those made in other countries. Russian helicopters are also very popular in Argentine and Brazil, the economies of which are currently rapidly developing.

In the early 2000s, Russia produced 3% of helicopters in the world. Now, it produces 14%.

Russian-US joint drills under way in US
Russian and American airborne forces are holding joint military drills at a US base in Colorado.

The war games which began on Tuesday are the first ever joint drills between Russian and American airborne forces.

For two weeks 22 Russian and 22 American paratroopers will be practicing tactical landing and assault operations, reconnaissance tactics, and helicopter evacuation.