Honduras To Buy Three Israeli Radars Worth $30 Million

The Honduran Ministry of Defense has confirmed the purchase of three radars from Israel, in a deal estimated at $30 million and will be paid through a 10-year loan. 

The new systems will be used to monitoring drug trafficking operations and organized crime throughout the country. According to the head of the Joint Chief of Staff, Gen. Rene Osorio, the radars will be delivered to Honduras in late January 2014. They will be installed at strategic locations around of the country, he said. General Osorio did not elaborate on the Israeli supplier or the specific models of equipment. 

However, the general did say that the primary radar has a 360 degree capability and the other two systems are smaller support radars. The radars will be able to cover the Caribbean, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala, Osorio added. 

For several decades, Honduras has relied on a borrowed TPS-70 surveillance radar from the United States. The radar began operating in 1986 and by 1999 needed to be restored to operational condition. According to Gen. Osorio, Honduras wants its own equipment and does not want to rely on donations and support from other countries.