Israel Swapped UAS Data Link Codes with Russia - WikiLeaks

Israel and Russia contracted a deal several years ago under which Israel provided Russia with codes for UAS it sold to Georgia in exchange for Iranian aerial defence system codes.

WikiLeaks has released an email exchange between employees of Stratfor, the US-based global intelligence company, which reveals that Israel and Russia made a deal to swap access codes for defence and surveillance equipment.

According to the leaked document, Israel gave Russia the "data link codes" for unmanned aircraft that the Jewish state sold to Georgia, and in return, Russia gave Israel the codes for Tor-M1 missile defense systems that Russia sold Iran.

In a document by a Stratfor employee dated February 2009 she says that she had met with a "Mexican source/friend" who told her that Israel and Russia had contracted a deal several years ago as part of which Israel provided Russia with codes of UAS it had sold to Georgia. In exchange Moscow provided the Israelis with the codes for Iran's Tor-M1 aerial defense systems.

The document suggests that the deal was signed before the Russia-Georgia war of August 2008 during which Russian forces invaded Georgia. At the time it was reported that Georgia was using Israel-made weapons.

It can also be understood from the document that the Georgians had at one point realized that their UAS were compromised and were looking for a replacement for the Israeli made aircraft.

The Mexican source also addressed the S-300 aerial defence systems that Israel and the West have spent years trying to dissuade Russia from handing over to Tehran. The source said that Israel and Turkey were collaborating very closely in regards to the system and that since Russia sold them to Greece – Turkey's long-time rival – Ankara has been busy trying to crack their codes.

He added that Ankara shared intelligence with Israel to make sure it has an edge over Iran should it get the systems from Russia.

Source: Y Net News