Success accompanies compact models with turbines and electric motorsThe Israeli military, on the one hand, has always sought to minimize the IDF's human losses during the constant wars with the Arabs, and on the other hand, these wars are always won.
At the same time, the country has a very powerful scientific and technological base synthesizing Western and Soviet-Russian developments.
All this naturally led to great success in Israel in the development of the use of drones (UAVs). At first, outwardly primitive, but in reality very effective intelligence. And then the fighting, and very unusual.
THE TRIUMPH OF SMALL FORMSUnlike its main competitors in this field, the United States and China, Israel has not created a single UAV with a jet engine.
Accordingly, none of them reaches a speed of even 500 km / h (and the vast majority flies slower than 300 km / h).
With the exception of the latest modifications of the "Herons" and "Hermes" (they will be discussed below), the flight range of Israeli UAVs does not even reach 500 km, and very often it is less than 100 km.
In addition, again, the latest modifications of the "Herons" and "Hermes", no classic combat UAVs have been created in Israel. Nevertheless, it is Israeli drones that are the best-selling on the world market (the number of UAVs exported by Israel reaches thousands). Since they were created to solve such an important task as achieving maximum situational awareness directly on the battlefield and in the nearest tactical depth.
At the same time, the first UAVs in the Israeli Armed Forces were the American BQM-34 "Firebee" (they are also "Ryan-147", in Israel they were called "Mabat"). They were used during the October 1973 War ("Israel's Doomsday", "HBO", 19.10.18) as "decoy targets" for Arab anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs). They spent anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAM) on these drones instead of shooting down "normal" (manned) Israeli Air Force aircraft. At the same time, the Arab air defense systems also discovered their location, being exposed to a blow from these very "normal" aircraft.
Following the results of the October 1973 war in Israel, it was decided to create small UAVs capable of transmitting a television image to a ground control point in real time. The first such drones were "Mastiff" and "Scout". They were actively used in the 1982 Lebanon War ("Lebanon in the Arab-Israeli Wars: How the Country was split", "HBO", 05/29/20) to identify and further suppress the air defense system of Syria.
The contribution of small Israeli "rattlers", continuously hanging over the battlefield, to the Israeli victory in general and to the defeat of the Syrian air defense in the Bekaa Valley in particular was very great. Alas, the Soviet Union did not draw any real conclusions from this, although the Syrian defeat was perceived in Moscow extremely painfully.
DRONES FOR EXPORTScout UAVs were purchased by South Africa (where they were manufactured under license), Singapore, Sri Lanka (used during the civil war in this country).
In addition, the Ranger UAV was created and produced in this country on the basis of the Scout for the Swiss Armed Forces (it was also acquired by Finland).
Based on the Mastiff UAV, a family of several modifications of the Sercher UAV was created with a more powerful engine, higher range and duration of flight and payload, capable of carrying not only optical equipment, but also a radar station (radar), which significantly expanded its reconnaissance capabilities.
The modification of the "Sercher-2" is produced in Russia under the name "Outpost". Various versions of "Serchers" except for the same Singapore and Sri Lanka were bought by Spain, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Ecuador.
Simultaneously with the first versions of the "Sercher" in the early 1990s, a Hunter UAV was developed in Israel for the US Armed Forces. It was produced in the United States itself (under the designations RQ-5 and MQ-5, the latter can carry UAB light guided aerial bombs), and was also purchased by France and Belgium.
THE KAMIKAZE PHENOMENONIn the late 1980s, the Harpy combat UAV was developed, operating in the kamikaze style.
It can be launched from ground-based launchers or from warships, is aimed at the enemy's radiating electronic means (which it detects itself), selects a priority target (based on the radiation parameters) and hits it with a high-explosive warhead weighing 16 kg.
The Harpy's flight range reaches 500 km, the flight duration is up to six hours. At the end of the 1990s, at least 50 "Harpies" were acquired by China ("Technologies of a deserted war", "HBO", 21.05.21). India, Turkey, and the Republic of Korea also bought these drones.
The development of the Sercher UAV family has become the Geron UAV family, which also includes several modifications. These drones, in addition to conducting reconnaissance in various ranges and issuing target designation, are capable of solving the tasks of electronic warfare (EW) and relaying communication signals. And "Geron-TR" (aka "Eitan") it can carry aviation weapons of destruction.
The first "Herons" participated in the Lebanese War of 2006 ("What the history of the confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah taught, "HBO", 17.07.20), although they had not yet been officially adopted by that time. Various versions of this UAV were purchased by traditional buyers of Israeli drones: France, Turkey, India, Azerbaijan, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Ecuador. Also bought "Herons" Germany, Canada, Australia.
In parallel with the Herons, the Hermes family of UAVs was created (somewhat lighter and cheaper, respectively, with a shorter range and duration of flight). The latest versions of this drone ("Hermes-450", "Hermes-900") are also capable of carrying aircraft weapons.
In addition to the "traditional" Azerbaijan and Singapore, various variants of "Hermes" were bought by Great Britain, Croatia, Georgia, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia. It is planned to purchase "Hermes-900" by Switzerland.
The Aerostar UAV has similar tactical and technical characteristics with the Hermes-180, which can be used for both military and civilian purposes. In addition to the same Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Thailand, Mexico, "Aerostar" was acquired by the Netherlands, Nigeria, BSK.
The development of the "Harpy" was the kamikaze UAV "Harop". Unlike the Harpy, however, it is not disposable: in the absence of suitable targets, this drone is able to return and be used again (including as a "clean" scout). Also, unlike the Harpy, it is aimed at the target by the operator using optical and infrared channels. It is capable of hitting armored vehicles in the least protected upper projection.
It was in this way that in April 2016, and then in the fall of 2020, Azerbaijani "Harops" hit tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, artillery and air defense systems of the Nagorno-Karabakh army ("Armenia-Azerbaijan: 26 years later", "HVO", 11/27/20). In general, there are suspicions that Israeli kamikazes and other weapons systems made a much greater contribution to Azerbaijan's victory than the Turkish Bayraktar combat UAVs.
However, for purely political reasons, Baku strongly emphasized the importance of helping fraternal Turkey and in every way avoided talking about the effectiveness of the weapons of that country, which is in very difficult relations with most of the Islamic world.
Also, "Harop" is in service with the Indian army.
DRONE OR ROCKET"Delilah" is often classified as a kamikaze drone, but it is also often considered a missile.
It has an inertial guidance system based on GPS + infrared signals in the final section, a flight range of 250 km, and carries a 30-kilogram warhead. It can be launched from airplanes, helicopters, ground and ship launchers (PU). It is capable of barraging in the target area, detecting this target and attacking it. This "Delilah" is fundamentally different from the vast majority of conventional missiles, which are aimed at a target with coordinates already known before the launch of the missile. And that is why it should rather be classified as a kamikaze.
It is believed that such missiles are especially effective for breaking through the enemy's air defense system. In May 2018, they seemed to be used on Syrian air defense systems, but the result is not entirely clear. It is believed that these missiles will be used to suppress the Syrian S-300 air defense systems, but so far this has not happened.
Very unusual is the Dominator reconnaissance UAV, created on the basis of the Austrian conventional (that is, manned) light aircraft DA42. Its only buyer was Mexico.
A family of Orbiter mini-drones weighing from 7 to 30 kg has been created in Israel, which have an extremely low level of visibility in all ranges, including acoustic. One of the representatives of this family, the Orbiter-1K is another kamikaze UAV with optical guidance (like the Harop) and a warhead (warhead) weighing 2.2 kg. The Orbiters, including the combat version, are manufactured in Azerbaijan.
LITTLE "HERO"Even smaller in size than the Orbiter-1K, kamikaze drones of the Hero family.
The smallest of them weighs only 3 kg and carries a warhead weighing 500 g at a range of 30-40 km.
The "Heroes" from the satchel PU are transferred and launched. Moreover, like "Harop", in the absence of suitable targets, these drones can go back and be used again. Guidance is carried out either by the operator via an optical channel, or in automatic mode according to a pre-programmed program.
Such UAVs are designed primarily for special operations forces. However, it is not very clear who such micro-kamikazes are capable of hitting (similar in their tactical and technical characteristics, American "Switchblades" turned out to be completely useless in Ukraine).
There are also a number of families of small reconnaissance drones, including I-View and Bird Eye, which were purchased in small quantities by Russia.
Apparently, Israel will continue to improve small and medium-sized UAVs with piston, electric and turboprop engines, which most meet the needs of the IDF itself, and are also in demand in many armies of the world. He has almost completely occupied this "ecological niche", it is difficult even for the USA and China to compete with him.
As it was shown above, the main buyers of Israeli drones are now Azerbaijan and India. But in total, up to three dozen countries of all continents, both developing and highly developed, acquire them. It is extremely difficult to oust Israelis from this market. Rather, they will expand it even more.
Alexander KhramchikhinAlexander Anatolyevich Khramchikhin is an independent military expert.
