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| Israel-Palestine | |||
| Israel developing large UAV | |||
| 2004-05-21 | |||
TEL AVIV — The Israel Air Force plans to procure a large and long-range unmanned air vehicle that resembles a fighter-jet. The UAV has been dubbed Eitan and has a wingspan of 26 meters and a takeoff weight of four tons. This weight is about four times the size of the largest UAV now in the Israel Air Force. The state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries has developed the Eitan. The Eitan was meant for automatic takeoff and landing. The twin-tailed UAV will be powered by a turboprop engine and meant for long flights.
Details of the Eitan were published in the Israel Air Force Journal. So far, IAI has built two prototypes of the Eitan. The air force magazine said the UAV was in the advanced stages of development.
"This aircraft, with its advanced avionics, is on a level similar to that of systems that operate on fighter-jets," Lt. Col. Boaz, responsible for UAVs in the air force, told the Journal. "The system will operate with complete autonomy and allow the operator to focus more on performing the mission and less on flying the air platform." Industry sources said the Eitan would be a multi-purpose UAV that could carry out reconnaissance and attack missions. One of those missions, they said, was the ability to locate and destroy mobile ballistic missile launchers.
The Defense Ministry has been developing the so-called Sniper system to destroy missiles in the boost phase of launch. The Sniper would also be able to destroy static and moving targets. | |||
| Posted by:Steve |
| #11 I'm waiting for those next Iranian UFO reports. He he he (Who says IDFs aren't already testing it) Lemmee see Coast-to-coast 1AM on KFI .... Of course only to hear the "coded" message : "UFOs over Iran." Go get 'em Israel! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-21 6:01:38 PM |
| #10 CH, its semi-autonomous which means you don't need continous communications. It may require as little as a short burst transmission to/from a submarine or mountaintop. I bet it is optionally fully autonomous. The difference between semi- and fully-autonomous is not a technical barrier. As for the route, either straight across Saudi Arabia, or over Syria and then SE Turkey. |
| Posted by: Phil B 2004-05-21 5:56:04 PM |
| #9 Or do the Israelis own a communications sat in geosync orbit? Even if not - they would probably buy bandwidth from US, and we don't know/care what is on that bandwidth. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-21 5:40:46 PM |
| #8 I'm guessing that this bird will have a very high operational altitude. 60 to 65K at least. Most likely of composite construction so it is probably quite stealthy. The big problem that I can see is communications. Or do the Israelis own a communications sat in geosync orbit? |
| Posted by: cheaderhead 2004-05-21 5:28:11 PM |
| #7 Touche - LotR! Especially with an 85 foot wingspan! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-21 1:13:46 PM |
| #6 BigEd - Well the Syrian AF pilots would be fighting with one another to see who could eject from their planes fastest if anything comes from Israel at them through the air. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-05-21 1:06:19 PM |
| #5 Without going around the Arabian peninsula, Israel has to fly this behemoth across "hostile" teritory. (I am thinking of the "removal" of the Iranian Nuke Plant.) How do they do that? Stealth technology? Certainly, we could "ignore" a radar blip if the thing goes over Iraq, but what about a path over Jordan/Syria? |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-21 12:40:31 PM |
| #4 Re: Mad Mullahs & Nukes -- I keep coming back to a strategic strike vs. the "we have to take them all out" approach, which many have suggested is now beyond our means. In other words, we didn't bomb everything in Germany to reduce / thwart war materiel production. We acted strategically, intelligently. Regards Iran, NKor, etc., I'm certain our military planners understand. Surely RB'ers can "get it", too. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-05-21 12:30:28 PM |
| #3 This gives Israel a strategic triad: silo-launched missiles, sea-launched strategic missiles, and long-range strategic bombers. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2004-05-21 12:19:20 PM |
| #2 Remember, Israeli adolescents are doing pre-training for this 6/7 days by being just as avid joy-stick video-game air fighter hounds as we are in the US. They spend one day in prayer. Their counterparts in Jihadistan spend 6/7 days being fed distorted Koran interpretation, and one day training to be future suicide bombers. Who is going to sit in a military bunker in the Negev? . . .behind a chair and display that looks like a video-game, but isn't, getting real time images from a nose camera, and GPS tracking (courtesy US Defense Dept. feed) Guiding the UAV to certain sites in Iran? The Iranian locals say, "I see a cigar shaped UFO heading to the nuclear plant. I've seen them before." However - this one is different. Detonation in 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 . . . The locals then say, "DANG THAT UFO CRASHED INTO THE POWER PLANT. Who will tell the Imam?" |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-21 11:50:01 AM |
| #1 Yep! Long range, long loiter semi-autonomous aerial vehicle. Clearly directed at Iran/Pakistan. Also big enough to carry a nuclear weapon. |
| Posted by: Phil B 2004-05-21 9:55:30 AM |