Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Military Space News .




UAV NEWS
Israel builds up its war robot industry
by Staff Writers
Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) Apr 26, 2013


Campaigners protest British drone strikes in Afghanistan
London (AFP) April 27, 2013 - Anti-war campaigners opposed to Britain's use of armed drones in Afghanistan on Saturday marched on a military base that this week began hosting the aircraft's human operators for the first time.

Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots had been operating Reaper aircraft to support British troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan remotely from a base in Nevada in the United States.

But this week the operations were relocated to Britain for the first time, to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire in eastern England, the Ministry of Defence said.

About 200 demonstrators marched to the base in Saturday, according to the BBC, to show their opposition to what campaigners said marked a "critical expansion in Britain's drones programme".

"Drones are indiscriminate weapons of war that have been responsible for thousands of civilian deaths," said a statement from the Stop the War Coalition.

"Rather than expanding the UK's arsenal, drones should be banned, just as landmines and cluster munitions were banned."

Prime Minister David Cameron announced in December 2010 new funding to increase the Reaper programme, although there are no plans to base or fly the drones in Britain, officials say.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said people were entitled to demonstrate but insisted the military did "everything possible" to avoid civilian casualties.

"We would stress that UK Reaper aircraft are piloted by highly-trained professional military pilots who adhere strictly to the same laws of armed conflict and are bound by the same clearly-defined rules of engagement which apply to those operating traditionally-manned RAF aircraft," he said.

Israel, which has the most advanced defense industry in the Middle East, is in the forefront of the rapidly expanding drone business that's changing the way wars will be fought for decades to come.

With state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, Elbit Systems and Aeronautics Defense Systems developing new and more agile unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as ground and seaborne drones, the Jewish state seems well-placed to corner a big slice of a market valued at around $50 billion a year.

Indeed, Israel's widely considered to be the leading UAV exporter in the world, selling units and associated technology as far afield as India, Russia, Nigeria and Mexico.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said Israeli companies were behind 41 percent of all UAVs exported in 2001-11. Those Israeli exports went to 24 countries, including the United States.

That volume's expected to expand as production costs are relatively low. Israeli industry officials boast that it's significantly cheaper to buy an advanced UAV than it is to train an air force pilot.

"In recent years, there have been more pilotless sorties than piloted ones in the Israeli air force," observed Ophir Shoham, an army reserve brigadier general who heads the Defense Ministry's Research and Development division known by the Hebrew acronym Mafat.

Shoham, who's had the job for three years, is responsible for the ministry's program to develop advanced technology for rockets, missile interception, satellites and unmanned systems.

"Within a few years there will be a number of operational missions of a known character that we will be able to carry out with a small number of unmanned devices," Shoham, the little-known "backroom boffin," told the Israeli daily Haaretz in a rare interview.

"That's the direction we're taking," he said. "Robots are not about to replace combat soldiers -- that's a bit far off -- but yes, we'll operate unmanned vehicles on the ground against highly dangerous targets.

"I refer to targets in enemy territory against which we can send such vehicles remotely, as a kind of forward guard -- vehicles that both observe and shoot. We will witness this in the foreseeable future."

Israel's military has long used UAVs for intelligence-gathering operations in the fight against Palestinian militants and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Israelis also pioneered the use of missile-armed drones to assassinate key militant leaders.

But it was the Americans who developed UAVs like General Atomic's MQ-1 Predator as killer drones in their war against al-Qaida since the attacks on the United States Sept. 11, 2001.

The first such assassination mission was in Yemen in November 2002.

Israel's pioneering work with UAVs dates back to 1970. The first major combat role for the UAVs, namely an early variant called the Scout, was in the June 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

The Israelis used Scouts from Israel's first UAV unit, Squadron 200, as decoys to lure Syrian surface-to-air missiles sites in Lebanon, thinking the UAVs were combat aircraft, to lock on their radar systems, exposing their positions.

Israeli warplanes knocked out all 19 batteries over a two-day period, during which Israeli fighters shot down 85 Syrian aircraft for no loss.

The Scout was built by Israel Aircraft Industries, IAI's original incarnation.

In addition to exports, Israeli defense firms set up subsidiaries in consumer countries "to target markets, rather than expand local manufacturing," Israel's Haaretz daily observed in 2009.

One example is the Aerostar and Orbiter 2M aerial drones being manufactured in Azerbaijan by Azad Systems Co., a joint venture between Israel's Aeronautics and the Azeri Defense Ministry.

Oil-rich Azerbaijan, which borders Iran, has become a key Israeli ally.

"There are three explanations for Israel's success in becoming a world leader in development and production of UAVs," a senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post.

"We have unbelievable people and innovation, combat experience that helps us understand what we need and immediate operational use since we're always in a conflict which allows us to perfect our systems."

Shoham gets the last word. Developing the UAV, he says, "was one of Israel's best investments.

"It led to the development of a tremendous technological infrastructure in the country. It's important to us to maintain our place in the forefront of world technology.

"This is the key to development in the coming generations as well."

.


Related Links
UAV News - Suppliers and Technology






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








UAV NEWS
Israel downs Lebanon drone off northern coast
Jerusalem (AFP) April 25, 2013
The Israeli air force on Thursday shot down a drone from Lebanon off the northern coast of Israel in an incident described by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "extremely grave." It was the second such incident in less than seven months, and Israel's deputy defence minister putting the blame squarely on Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement which had said it was behind a previous drone infi ... read more


UAV NEWS
U.S. seeks $220 million for Israel missile defense

Pentagon requests more funding for Israel's 'Iron Dome'

Lockheed Martin PAC-3 Missile Intercepts and Destroys Tactical Ballistic Missile in New Test

Japan's missile defence plan: some facts

UAV NEWS
Lockheed Martin's Nemesis Missile Scores 3-For-3 in Flight Tests

Guam heightens alert level after N. Korea threats

US warns N. Korea ahead of expected missile launch

Raytheon demonstrates new Joint Standoff Weapon Extended Range integrated fuel system

UAV NEWS
Israel builds up its war robot industry

Israel downs Lebanon drone off northern coast

US drone destroys Taliban base in Pakistan, five killed

Pentagon calls off new medal for drone, cyber warriors

UAV NEWS
Gilat to Equip IDF with SatTrooper-1000 Military Manpack

General Dynamics' WIN-T Increment 2, Soldiers' "On-the-Move" Network, Advances as 10th Mountain Division Trains for Deployment

Lockheed Martin Awarded Contract to Modernize U.S. Joint Theater Air Operations System

Boeing Delivers FAB-T Test Units to US Air Force

UAV NEWS
Few women opt for frontline combat roles in Australia

Raytheon contracted for Miniature Air Launched Decoy and Jammer units

Northrop Grumman launches CUTLASS, Next Generation Unmanned Ground Vehicle

Navy Develops High Impact, High Integrity Polymer for Air, Sea, and Domestic Applications

UAV NEWS
France picks up 707 million euros for 2.1% stake in EADS

Dutch civil servant jailed for spying for Russia

France wants defense off table in EU-US trade talks

British millionaire guilty of selling fake bomb detectors

UAV NEWS
Indian foreign minister to visit China amid border spat

EU foreign policy chief Ashton holds talks in China

Outside View: America's historical amnesia

Japanese prime minister warns China against landings

UAV NEWS
Scientists see nanoparticles form larger structures in real time

Super-nanotubes: 'Remarkable' spray-on coating combines carbon nanotubes with ceramic

Nanocoating At ESA

New device could cut costs on household products, pharmaceuticals




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement