Israeli UAV Firm Searched

Months after a Japanese company was searched by police and customs agents on suspicions of selling UAV technology to China... now comes word that an Israeli company is also under suspicion.

The owners, CEO and several employes of a company called E.M.I.T. have been arrested on charges of conspiring to sell its Sparrow unmanned aerial vehicle, and other technology to the Chinese government. The Kadima-based company is also suspected of forging documents needed to export the technology to China.

We don't yet know if EMIT CEO Ephraim Menashy, a former chief test pilot for Israel Aviation Industries, is the lead suspect in the case. But his lawyer tells Israeli Army Radio that Menashy denies all charges against him.

E.M.I.T. is a world leader in the development of UAVs... especially in the areas where China is apparently lacking -- avionics and auto-pilot systems.

The Jerusalem Post reports this isn't the first time that an Israeli company has been accused of illegally exporting sensitive military technology to China. In 1994, IAI itself sold Beijing some Harpy killer drones... designed to seek out and destroy anti-missile batteries.

That, reports the Post, is a scandal that still haunts military relations between the US and Israel.

FMI: www.emituav.com