Pakistani military says UK engines powered Israeli drones used by India

British-made engines powered Israeli drones that India launched into Pakistani airspace last week, according to reports by the Pakistani media citing the country's military.

Pakistani and international media circulated a photo late last week of an intact engine taken from a drone downed by the Pakistani military. 

The engine has visible manufacturer markings, which reveal it was produced by UK-based company UAV Engines Ltd.

Middle East Eye matched a photo of an engine from an Israeli drone shot down in Pakistan with an engine model produced by a British company in Staffordshire.

While the two images matched by MEE are of the same engine, MEE could not independently verify the image from Pakistan.

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An Indian government source confirmed to MEE last Thursday that Pakistan had shot down at least one Israeli drone launched by India. Pakistan claimed on Friday that it had shot down 77 such drones.

Among other models, India used the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Harop suicide drone, as well as the SkyStriker suicide drone developed by Israel's largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems.

The Express Tribune reported on Friday that the Pakistani military confirmed some of the drones they had downed had engines manufactured by UAV Engines Ltd.

MEE identified the engine in the circulated photo as the AR731, which has the highest power-to-weight ratio of any rotary engine in the world.

The photo appears to match the image and specifications of the model displayed on UAV Engines Ltd's website.

The company, located in the West Midlands' village of Shenstone in Staffordshire, UK, is a subsidiary of Israel's Elbit Systems.

An Indian government source told MEE on Thursday that some of the drones launched into Pakistan were supplied to the Indian military by the Adani Group, a multinational company founded by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani which shares a production line with Elbit.

British hardware sold to India

Video footage widely circulated online last week shows a young Pakistani boy carrying an engine, said to have been retrieved from a drone, that also appears to be a UAV Engines Ltd model.

A UAV Engines Ltd user manual produced around a decade ago says that the company supplies Israel Aerospace Industries, among other companies. More recent manuals have not provided information on which companies UAV Engines Ltd supplies.

MEE asked Britain's Department for Business and Trade whether it has ever licensed the sale of UAV engines to Israel or to India. The department declined to comment. 

MEE has also asked UAV Engines Ltd for comment.

The development comes after the UK's business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, was criticised by Labour backbench MPs last week after he suggested Britain should not be "squeamish" about selling arms to India.

Labour MP Kim Johnson told The Independent: “I find the business secretary’s comments deeply troubling. You cannot voice concern over escalating tensions in Kashmir while simultaneously suggesting we should ‘not be squeamish’ about selling arms to one side of the conflict."

And Labour MP Jon Trickett said: “Britain needs to avoid exacerbating the already dangerous situation on the subcontinent by supplying arms. Furthermore, the idea of supplying arms to one side in a conflict situation clearly runs contrary to our national interest by risking serious diplomatic consequences from the other party.”

On Saturday, however, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked the UK, among other countries, for contributing to successful efforts to secure a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

Over the last decade, India has imported military hardware worth $2.9bn from Israel, including radars, surveillance and combat drones, and missiles.

Meanwhile, the UK government is under heavy scrutiny from rights groups and campaigners over its arms exports to Israel.

A report last Wednesday based on Israeli import data revealed that a wide range of UK-made military goods and arms, including F-35 fighter jet parts, have continued to be sent to Israel even after the British government suspended 30 arms export licences in September.

And this week, the Department for Business and Trade faces a high court challenge brought by Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq over Britain's supply of F-35 parts to Israel.

After four days of shelling and unprecedented aerial incursions on both sides, India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday.

Top military officials from both nuclear-armed neighbours are due to meet on Monday to discuss the details of the agreement. 

middleeasteye.net