Israeli Company Suspected of Using Drones Against Armenian Positions Charged

The Israeli company "Aeronautics," which specializes in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), along with three of its senior employees, has been charged for violating laws regulating the export of defense products. This company was at the center of a scandal in 2017 when it was revealed that high-ranking representatives of Aeronautics had tested their UAVs in the direction of Armenian positions in Artsakh at the request of Azerbaijan before selling them to that country.

According to reports from Armenpress, Haaretz states that a decision made by an Israeli court does not allow for further details to be disclosed about the case. In recent years, an investigation has been conducted against the company. In August 2017, the Israeli Ministry of Defense announced that it had suspended the export license for offensive drones produced by Aeronautics to a specific foreign customer.

During the same month, it was reported that the Israeli Ministry of Defense had begun an investigation regarding a complaint that representatives of Aeronautics had tested kamikaze drones against positions of the Armenian army in Azerbaijan. Aeronautics denied the information that its employees ever conducted such tests, stating that they have never "carried out UAV tests on live targets."