On video: downing of a UAV, Lebanon, February 26, 2024/documentation on social networks according to Article 27 A of the Copyright Law
The video of the damaged Zik UAV spinning slowly towards Lebanese soil yesterday (Monday) after being hit by a missile launched by Hezbollah was a landmark, a moment of success for the concept, but also a prominent and worrying warning light about it.
30 years after the Zik was selected in the then top secret tender of the Ministry of Defense Being the Air Force's first attacking UAV, the downing of such an aircraft by enemy fire was recorded for the first time.
A fighter plane was lost, but it was much cheaper than an F16 and, above all, there was no need for a rescue operation in Hall, with concern for human life, and fear of capture.
Not all of our planes returned safely, but for one moment there was no fear here for Ron Arad 2.
Four decades after Eli Gamzon and Giura Herzberg conceived and developed the concept of an inexpensive UAV armed with missiles, and increased with "Steel Arrow" as the plane was called during development on the industry The large and connected aerial, attack UAVs are an integral part of the modern battlefield.
The Silver Arrow company they founded was sold to Elbit, which turned it into the base of its successful UAV division. Irony of fate: when the Zik won the Israel Security Award in 2001, they actually did not receive it, because the award's regulations prohibit its awarding to the same person within five years, and they have already Received an award for another project three years before.
An IDF drone, Kfar Gaza.
October 14/Father is a pharmacist
The Hermes 450, the trade name of a steel arrow, which became a staple in the air force and artillery, was sold by Elbit worldwide to the British, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, Georgia, Colombia, Brazil, and, according to foreign sources, also to Azerbaijan and Singapore.
Iran produces a copy of it, under the name Shahad 129. Today Elbit produces an enlarged version of it, the Hermes 900, which competes in the world market against attack drones made by the USA, China and Turkey.
In Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa, armed drones have become a symbol of the war on terrorism.
But the Air Force didn't just lose a 20-year-old drone yesterday.
For the first time he faced the realization that the enemy had also become sophisticated and professional.
When Ehud Barak as Chief of Staff pushed for the equipping of such a tool as a solution to the onslaught of thousands of Syrian tanks in the Golan, remembering how many pilots and planes the Air Force lost when it tried to stop such an attack in the Yom Kippur War, the Zik was a relatively small tool and difficult to locate and hit. But in 2024, you already know how to look for him.
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Hezbollah shot down an Air Force drone, the IDF attacked deep in Lebanon in response
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IDF forces practicing on the northern border/IDF spokesperson
The Air Force rushed to convey a message to Nasrallah and attacked Baal Bek, destroying Hezbollah's air defense systems, but the threat remains and is not unique to the Lebanese scene.
Last week, the Houthi rebels in Yemen shot down an advanced American MQ-9 drone for the second time. Unlike Afghanistan, where they made extensive use of Predator and Reaper missiles for attack, in Yemen the unmanned vehicles are used to gather intelligence, and the attacks are carried out by manned fighter jets.
Even in war In Ukraine, the Turkish Beyrqatar drones that Kiev used against the Russians gained fame at first.
They successfully attacked tanks, artillery and air defense systems, as a replacement for the small Ukrainian fighter jet fleet.
But after just a few months, the Russians learned to detect and intercept the Ukrainian Beyraktars, which too often became disposable drones, instead of an unmanned aircraft that takes off, attacks, and returns to base to refuel and arm itself for another sortie. The Ukrainian military recently admitted that the Beyraktars have become a non-existent element on the battlefield .
IDF attacks in southern Lebanon, February 14, 2024/documentation on social networks according to Article 27 A of the Copyright Law
The Zik was a bastard because it was small and cheap, and because at that time no one considered equipping UAVs with self-defense systems, such as lights, chaff, or electronic warfare. Why invest so much in defense when there is no human pilot to guard it, and it's a shame to lose weight in favor of carrying more Fuel and armaments. But times have changed.
In Ukraine, the Russians are attacking with UAVs that carried 136 one-time Iranians.
As simple UAVs that are weapons, launched, slowly fly to the target and dive towards it until it is hit. The Ukrainians also arm UAVs for such attacks.
roving armament.
Here, too, we are talking about the development of a concept that was invented in Israel even before the Zik, also the Harpy of the aerospace industry, but in cheap and simple versions and in much more widespread use.
The Americans, as well as the Europeans and the Japanese, are currently developing advanced and stealthy jet drones, which will fly alongside manned fighter jets, and carry out the more dangerous missions. They will be much more expensive tools, but also protected almost like a manned craft, so that they will be reusable.
Zik/IDF spokesman
In the debate about equipping after the war, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff will have to decide where to take the IDF's fleet of manned vessels.
Is it possible to finance the development and production of more advanced tools in the defense industries in Israel?
Or give up our independence in the field and purchase their own tools from the Americans, if they even agree to sell them to us?
Should we purchase from Elbit, Aerospace Industries and Aeronautics large quantities of disposable attack UAVs, as many foreign countries do? The
Zik revolutionized air warfare, saved human lives and saved a lot of money for the defense budget. But yesterday's shootdown showed that the other side also recognized this, and prepared Accordingly, the hunter has become the hunted. The Air Force and the Ministry of Defense must not underestimate this challenge.
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as a UAV
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