Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the Service of the Israeli Air Force

David Rodman
MERIA Journal
September '10

The Israel Air Force (IAF) has a rich history of employing unmanned aerial vehicles in battle with excellent results, and is set to expand significantly its drone operations in the coming decades, as the increasing sophistication of these vehicles makes them suitable for a rapidly expanding set of roles. In the future, the IAF's drone force could alter Israel's strategic landscape, reinforcing both its nuclear and conventional deterrence, as well as making it less dependent on American military assistance.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), often referred to colloquially as drones, can claim a lineage that dates back to the dawn of air warfare. Though quite rare in comparison to the enormous numbers of manned aircraft involved in the first and second world wars, UAVs participated in both conflicts, especially the latter, mainly as attack vehicles armed with high-explosive warheads. Not until the Vietnam War, however, did drones really find a defined niche on the battlefield, when the United States Air Force conducted thousands of reconnaissance sorties over hostile territory with UAVs.

With the possible exception of the United States, Israel is the country most closely identified with UAV operations in the post-World War II period. The Jewish state has actually employed drones in a variety of roles since the early 1970s, but it initially gained worldwide attention for its operations during the 1982 Lebanon War, in which its UAVs played a substantial part in the destruction of the Syrian integrated air defense system (IADS) erected in Lebanon. Recent asymmetric conflicts—the 2006 Second Lebanon War against Hizballah and the 2008–2009 Operation Cast Lead against Hamas—sparked renewed global interest in Israeli drone operations.

Nevertheless, outside of the international defense community—professional soldiers, military analysts and journalists, arms designers, and so on—familiarity with the Jewish state’s UAV operations, past and present, is not widespread. A brief review of Israel’s experience with drones, as well as a few thoughts about the future of its UAV force, then, seems entirely in order. The employment of these vehicles is set to expand dramatically in the years ahead, if the fighting in places as diverse as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Gaza is any indication of what is just over the horizon.

(Read full article)

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Evacuate Injured During Combat

The Medical Corps is examining the possibility to purchase an unmanned aerial vehicle in order to evacuate injured people and supply logistics.

Sapphire Itscovich
06 August 09

On Monday (August 3rd) Head of the Trauma Branch of the Medical Corps, Lt. Col. Dr. Gil Hirschorn, revealed that the Medical Corps is examining the possibility of purchasing an unmanned aerial vehicle in order to evacuate injured people. This was revealed during an operational program held in the corps. The IDF has been searching for a vehicle that is able to supply forces with equipment in various locations. According to the Medical Corps, an unmanned aerial vehicle is the right solution.

The leading candidate for this purchase is the Mule aircraft made by the Israeli company, Urban Aeronautic. The Mule has the same attributes as a helicopter; however it is more stable, cheaper, smaller and less noisy. The Medical Corps ascribes its narrow width as the most valuable benefit, given that the Mule is able to land in various areas that would normally be unreachable to other vehicles. As of now, the Mule can hold two injured people lying down; however in the future there will be place for a chaperone as well.

Lt. Col. Dr. Hirschorn a former flight medic adds that the aircraft will be used mostly in oceanic and urban areas because of its large use in evacuation. In addition to that, he emphasized that the unmanned aerial vehicles will count with gear such as a communications device to have contact between the injured people and the main center via video broadcast, proper protection, an installed stretcher, air-conditioning and the ability to monitor the injured people throughout the flight.

A prototype of the evacuating vehicle will be displayed in the end of this year however; its operational version is expected to come only until the year 2012. The interest in the project is vast and foreign militaries across the globe are examining the possibility to purchase as well.
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