In 1982, Thailand acquired a squadron of six R4E-30 SkyEye UAVs from Developmental Sciences for use by the Royal Thai Air Force for surveillance work. These air vehicles were in need for replacement by the early 1990s. Thailand examined a number of systems, and in February 1992 selected the Israeli IAI Searcher, ordering one ground station and four air vehicles at a cost of about $12 million for the Royal Thai Army. In 1995, Thailand announced plans to build their own based on the Searcher II.