The Georgia Ministry of Defense of reported on September 28 that it purchased Spanish-made unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as renewed existing aircraft, and retrained the personnel. The Sniper Unnamed Aerial Vehicle (the Alpha 800 UAV), one of the models purchased by the Ministry, has recently been in a center of controversy after the Spanish manufacturer complained about it being gifted by Israeli officials to Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev in November 2016. Spanish side claimed this amounted to the transfer of sensitive technologies. Defense Minister Irakli Garibashvili visited the Marneuli Air Base, where he inspected the new aerial systems and attended the demonstration flights.
The Alpha 800 is simply the best in its class. It is the most reliable and durable unmanned helicopter available for a multitude of monitoring tasks. Utilizing a UAV platform that flies in fully autonomous and/or manual mode – or both – the Alpha 800 does much of the same work as a manned helicopter but with far lower maintenance requirements and overall costs. Very light and easily maneuverable at less than 14kg, it is not affected by regulations that severely limit the use of heavier UAV’s. Its light weight enhances versatility in a wide range of missions.Alpha Unmanned Systems, SL is a privately held independent company based in Madrid, Spain. Founded in 2014, by Juan Luque, Alvaro Escarpenter and Eric Freeman, the Alpha team includes aeronautical engineers, electronic engineers, mechanical engineers, UAV pilots and business professionals.
