BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3: PRE-LICENSE END-USE CHECK ON

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000130 SIPDIS SIPDIS PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KOMC ETTC SI SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3: PRE-LICENSE END-USE CHECK ON APPLICATION 050029807 REF: SECSTATE 22837 ¶1. (U) Econoff conducted a site visit to Slovenian company Aviotech d.o.o.and met with company owner Matjaz Praprotnik. He confirmed his order from U.S. seller Cloud Cap of 10 Piccolo II Autopilots, 3 Developers Kits, 5 Portable Ground Station Kits and 10 LT Avionics. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) equipment will be used to develop long-range anti-aircraft defense drones. According to Praprotnik, the purpose of the purchased equipment is to maintain appropriate alignment of a UAV's wings and rudder when UAV is out of sight. Currently, Aviotech makes short-range (less than 1.5 kms) remote-controlled anti- aircraft defense training drones which are controlled by handheld devices. Aviotech's only client is the Slovenian Airforce, which uses Aviotech UAVs for training purposes. Aviotech is on the outskirts of Ptuj (pop. 23,000). Its neighbors are chicken-processing company Perutnina Ptuj and a printing company. ¶2. (U) In 2006, the Overseas Defense Cooperation chief, Lt. Colonel Eugene Moty, visited Aviotech to learn more about its UAV technology. Econoff consulted with Moty, and Moty confirmed Aviotech's long standing work with UAVs. ROBERTSON