"We embarked on an ambitious endeavor to create a tool for gathering real-time intelligence over combat zones," says Harari, an electrical engineer credited with pioneering the drone program at the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) early in 1974.
A few years later, Harari and his team rolled out the Scout, a 200-kilogram drone that loitered at about 3000 meters. It made its debut in the 1982 Lebanon War, relaying images of troop movements and enabling Israel to achieve aerial superiority early on by neutralizing Syrian anti-aircraft batteries. It also made the Israeli military the world`s first operator of a modern unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
"It was a revelation," says Harari, who holds a PhD in physics from the Sorbonne. "Suddenly we were managing a battlefield four- dimensionally, where the fourth dimension was time. It totally changed military doctrine."
Indeed it has. Drone squadrons presently shoulder the bulk of the IAF`s reconnaissance missions, logging more flight hours annually than all of its manned aircraft combined. In recent years, they are regularly tasked with overflying the Gaza Strip to hunt for Palestinian rocket launching squads, lead helicopter gunships and artillery to the locations of hidden arms caches and are also reportedly involved in the periodic targeted killings of militants.
UAVs are also thought to be playing a critical role in the collection of intelligence ahead of a potential Israeli military strike on Iran`s nuclear facilities.
In February 2010, IAI delivered to the air force its flagship drone, the Heron TP II. With a wingspan of 26 meters (the size of a Boeing 737), the fourth-generation, all-weather craft has a cruising altitude of about 13,500 meters, carries nearly five tons of payload and can remain aloft for 36 hours. The range is classified, but one IAI executive says that the Heron`s linkup to satellite communications enables it to fly "immense distances" and reach any country in the region.
The ever-growing reliance on drones, which have become indispensable in minimizing the risk to aircrews and trimming defense budgets, has Israeli manufacturers scrambling to quench the IAF`s and foreign markets` insatiable thirst for systems that stretch technological boundaries.
"The demand usually far exceeds the industries` ability to develop the required systems," Lt. Col. (res.) Dan Bichman, a consultant for UAV marketing at IAI`s MALAT military aircraft group, told Xinhua, at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International conference in Tel Aviv last week.
"We are in a constant race to meet operational needs and upgrade capabilities: to fly farther and higher for longer durations, to produce a sharper video image and greater autonomy, to enable the operation of diverse payloads simultaneously, and better cope with extreme climate conditions," Bichman said.
While the Heron and similar -- albeit significantly lighter and less sophisticated -- UAVs currently spearhead the Israeli army`s operations, and those of numerous armies worldwide, the hottest trend is miniaturization.
Mini and micro-UAVs are the latest technological craze. Last August, IAI unveiled the Ghost and Panther, two electric engine- powered drones that take off and land vertically. Weighing four kilograms and 145 cm long, the stealthy Ghost, modeled after the twin-rotor Chinook helicopter, was designed to support infantry and special operations units in built-up areas and rugged terrain on short missions. It hovers, can maneuver inside a room and transmits images via daylight and infrared night sensors.
Other products that have rolled off IAI`s assembly lines in recent years include the Mosquito and Bird Eye, both of which are catapult-launched by a single soldier. Smaller local companies are also moving into the niche, like UVision Global Aero Systems, which offers the Sparrow and WASP.
At last week`s AUVSI conference, the group`s first in Israel, IAI touted a prototype of the Butterfly, a tiny, virtually soundless drone capable of flying through windows and into buildings for delicate spying operations.
IAI officials say that urban warfare involving irregular forces, whether in the Gaza Strip, Afghanistan or, until recently, in Iraq, has created the demand for what they describe as over-the-hill tactical intelligence.
"Ghost and its smaller counterparts offer simple operation and quick deployment. They come in a suitcase carried on the back of a single soldier," said Bichman, a former helicopter pilot who has served in IAF drone squadrons for the past 25 years. "The clear advantage lies in being able to receive a visual of what is happening beyond a house or beyond an alley. It`s helpful in averting unpleasant surprises."
Miniature drones, however, are the tip of the iceberg. Israel Defense magazine reports in its March issue that IAI`s laboratories are abuzz with research aimed at ushering in a new era of UAV technology. Some concepts on the drawing board include nano air vehicles (NAVs), fuel cell and solar-powered drones with dramatically enhanced flight durations and a fully autonomous cargo carrier.
Armed UAVs, known in the U.S. military as Predator or hunter- killer drones, are also gaining popularity. Israel denies having them, but independent experts say it has used such hardware on numerous occasions, including to strike targets far beyond its borders. According to one source, IAI`s Pioneer, a drone said to have been equipped with 16-inch guns, saw action as far back as 1982, and was used extensively by the U.S. Navy in the 1991 Gulf War.
Senior IAI executives, many of whom command drone squadrons as reservists, flatly refuse to comment on the issue.
"We`re precluded from discussing this subject," said Bichman. " The Hunter, which we produced exclusively for the Americans, has been in service for many years and they are satisfied with it. They already published long ago that they armed that tool themselves."
Harari says that IAI, like all other local drone manufacturers, are kept in the dark on mission details.
"Our role is to provide (the military) tools for gathering information and that`s where it ends. How they use them, I don`t know," he says.
However, while missile-equipped drones are a closely guarded secret, some platforms, which one expert here described as "flying hand grenades," combine reconnaissance with offensive capabilities and are openly acknowledged in shiny marketing brochures. IAI`s Harop and UVision`s Blade Arrow loiter on the battlefield in search of targets and attack by self-destructing into them. The former has been sold to Turkey, India and Germany.
Whether for scouring ravines or unleashing precision munitions, military drones are big business. One speaker at the AUVSI conference forecasted revenue of 10 billion U.S. dollars in the global market over the next decade. Doron Suslik, IAI`s vice president for communications, estimated that 20 to 25 percent of the company`s annual 3.5 billion dollars sales come from UAVs and ground robotics exported to some 50 countries worldwide.
However, industry experts concur that the future lies in the civilian market, until now uncharted waters that hold the promise of vast fortunes.
"What`s coming in the U.S. and Europe and all around the world is a way to open up the airspace to allow these things to fly and be used for commercial markets, which we think ultimately is going to dwarf the military market," said Brett Davis, vice president for communications and publications at the AUVSI.
The civilian market in the U.S. has so far remained stagnant, mainly due to licensing regulations and cost, but Davis said that is changing.
"It`s sort of at a point in time when the Internet switched from ARPANET (for years the U.S. armed forces` and defense establishment`s Internet) to the Internet that we know today. It opened up markets that no one had even dreamed about before."
As a tool for search and rescue, drones can find humans lost in the wilderness or adrift at sea. The uses, said Davis, are endless- - from pipeline and railroad inspection to assisting first- responders in traffic accidents and hostage standoff situations.
"We`re seeing and feeling the change in direction. There definitely is tremendous potential in the civilian market," said Bichman. "A slew of areas are increasingly opening up: paramilitary, maritime surveillance, border and aerial monitoring, ferrying cargo."
Taking challenges head-on is nothing new at IAI and its subsidiaries, who pay top dollar to some of the country`s best and brightest to keep pace in the fierce competition posed by heavy hitters like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics, as well as local manufacturers.
Bichman voiced confidence that IAI will come out on top when the race to win mega contracts for civilian drones begins.
"We are at the phase preceding breakthrough. It will happen. I` m convinced," he said. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
