Israeli defense contractor Aeronautics Ltd. is flight testing its Dominator XP unmanned aerial vehicle in Mexico, which has purchased the system.

The Dominator XP is a medium-altitude long-endurance aircraft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions and is based on the DA-42 twin star, an Austrian commercial plane.

It has a length of 28.3 feet, a maximum speed of 219 miles per hour and a service ceiling of 30,000 feet. Endurance is 28 hours with a 900 pound payload,

Mexico is the first customer for the system, which first took to the air in 2009.

"The dominator is the highlight of Aeronautics development in the recent years," said Amos Mathan, Aeronautics' chied executive officer. "Taking a civil aircraft and transforming it into UAS allows the operators to enjoy all the benefits of a large UAS in an affordable price and with exceptional reliability.

"This is the first contract in which we export the UAS instead of renting it to the costumer, and I have no doubt that after the implementation of the system in Mexico we will soon market the dominator to other countries as well."

Mexico bought the system through Balam Security, a Mexican marketing firm.