Abu Dhabi (UAE). February 21. INTERFAX-The UAE Defense and Security Development Fund Tawazun plans to order 200 light helicopters and drones of its development after joining the capital of the Russian design bureau BP-Technologies, the head of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, told reporters.
"In addition to financial investments, the Arab partners have already become anchor customers for future products: an agreement has been reached on the supply of 100 VRT500 light helicopters and 100 VRT300 drones starting from 2023. So, within the framework of the IDEX-2021 exhibition, a model of the VRT300 drone in the Abu Dhabi police coloring book has already been presented at the Tawazun Foundation's stand, " Chemezov said.
Currently, BP-Technologies LLC is 100% owned by Russian Helicopters JSC (part of Rostec). At the end of 2019, it was reported that Tawazun, which had previously become an investor in the Russian luxury car manufacturer Aurus, plans to acquire 50% in BP-Technologies. The agreement on the main terms of the transaction was signed on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow.
"As equal partners," the companies plan to invest at least 400 million euros in the development of the design bureau, said Andrey Boginsky, General Director of Russian Helicopters. This, he said, would " make the company's products competitive and in demand all over the world." The VRT500 and the VRT300 drone have good prospects in the Middle East markets, Chemezov noted at the time.
The deal was originally scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2020. On Sunday, the head of Rostec outlined a new deadline - the first half of this year.
