Israel/OPT: Israeli drone used in strike on aid workers may have been powered by UK-made engine
"Israeli drone in aid worker strikes may have used UK engine, campaigners say", 4 April 2024
Arms experts and campaigners are questioning whether the drone used by the Israeli military to kill seven aid workers...was powered by a UK-made engine.
The World Central Kitchen aid workers had just delivered more that 100 tonnes of food aid to a warehouse in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah on Monday when their convoy was reportedly hit multiple times by missiles in an attack involving a Hermes 450 drone...
It has...drawn scrutiny from arms monitors and aviation experts who say they believe it's possible the drone reportedly involved in the attack was flying with an engine manufactured by the UK-based UAV Engines Limited (UEL).
The company... is a subsidiary of the Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems.
"The evidence seems to stack up that it is a UK engine and, if it’s not, then Elbit need to clarify that," Sam Perlo-Freeman, research coordinator at the UK-based Campaigns Against Arms Trade...
Among the evidence, said Perlo-Freeman, are specialist websites and reports which say that the Hermes 450 runs on a UK-made engine.
Neither UAV Engines, nor Elbit Systems UK responded to MEE's requests for comment, but an Elbit Systems spokesperson told the Daily Mail that none of its subsidiaries or joint ventures, including UAV Engines, were involved in the Hermes 450 programme.
The Department for Business and Trade declined to say whether it was possible the UK-made components were in the drone used...or if it was investigating the matter.
“We continue to monitor the situation in Gaza," a government spokesman said in response to MEE's questions...
In response to a Freedom of Information request, the Department of International Trade released information last year showing that as recently as 2021, UEL was licenced to send parts for military airplane engines.
However, researchers have also said they have not found a significant number of regular export licences for engines from UEL to Israel, suggesting that they are now produced in Israel...