Israel's Iron Dome accidentally shot down its own drone.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that an Iron Dome battery accidentally shot down an Israeli Skylark drone.
The incident is reported by The Drive portal with reference to the publication Naaretz.
It is not known which model of the drone was destroyed. But the IDF mainly uses the Skylark I, which is designed to be launched manually using a system that resembles a slingshot. It weighs seven kilograms, is almost invisible in the air, is equipped with direct video communication and can fly for up to three hours in all weather conditions.
The incident has raised serious concerns among Israeli officials. The question arises as to how the "Iron Dome" will behave in future operations, when there will be a large number of both friendly and enemy drones in the sky at the same time.
"The downed drone raises doubts that the IDF is sufficiently prepared and has the necessary capabilities to conduct long-term combat operations without compromising its own forces," writes Haaretz. The publication also recalls that during the conflict between Israel and Gaza, the airspace remained open to civil aviation because Israeli officials argued that the "Iron Dome" is able to distinguish hostile aircraft from those that do not pose a threat.
The Drive portal, in turn, notes: it is unlikely that Skylark and other drones of similar size, and even some larger designs, carry commercial transponders, not to mention the "friend-foe" identification systems installed on military aircraft. This means that in the future, "Iron Dome" may face the same problem.
Oleg Koryakin
