Latin American air forces turn to indigenous UAVs
The Coelum UAV is manufactured by Colombian company CIAC. (Photo: CIAC)
Recent developments in Brazil and Colombia reflect a trend towards domestic UAV manufacturing.
While Latin American militaries will continue to rely on imported UAVs for ISR operations in the foreseeable future, countries with robust domestic defence industries are also developing them locally.
Operating domestically manufactured UAVs has become an objective for the Brazilian and Colombian air forces, for example.
On 23 April, the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and Embraer signed an agreement to jointly develop a UAV made ‘with national technology and with multiple capabilities’, according to an FAB press release.
As the table below shows, Brazil already manufactures various unmanned aircraft for tactical and strategic reconnaissance. While no further details have been
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