General Atomics lawsuit to delay Heron drone program: Germany

Germany's Defence Ministry on Tuesday informed lawmakers that its plan to lease armed Heron TP drones from Israel Aerospace Industries [ISRAI.UL] will be delayed by months given a fresh legal challenge filed by U.S. weapons maker General Atomics. Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen in January announced the army would lease the Heron drones for about 580 million euros instead of buying Predator B drones from the privately held U.S. firm or Switzerland's RUAG, prompting protests by both firms wh