Israel has responded to a successful Hezbollah drone strike on an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) base earlier this week in classic Israeli fashion: by accelerating efforts to encourage private research and development of drone defenses.
As Breitbart News reported, a Hezbollah drone hit a dining hall at an IDF base south of Haifa, killing four soldiers and wounding dozens more. The drone had briefly appeared on Israeli radar before disappearing and attacking.
In a statement Tuesday, the Israeli Ministry of Defense noted that defense chief Yoav Gallant had accelerated the program to test private-sector systems that had already begun development to enhance Israel’s drone defenses.
The Ministry of Defense said:
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Gila Gamliel, Director General of the IMoD Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eyal Zamir, IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Amir Baram and Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr. Daniel Gold, head of the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), led a first-of-its-kind trial yesterday (Monday) to identify and demonstrate new capabilities for intercepting Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
This groundbreaking event showcased various solutions as part of an expedited competitive process initiated by the Defense Minister several weeks prior, to rapidly develop innovative interception solutions in response to the evolving security landscape.
The trial took place at a testing field in southern Israel, with the participation of eight Israeli industries, ranging from major companies (Elbit Systems, Rafael, and Israel Aerospace Industries) to startup firms, presenting technological solutions for UAV interception. Solutions that met the threshold requirements in the demonstration phase will advance to accelerated development and operational testing.
As part of the competition, the defense industries deployed prototypes of their interception systems, developed under DDR&D’s leadership, and demonstrated UAV interception capabilities at various ranges and flight altitudes. After analyzing the trial results, the Ministry of Defense will select several technologies to enter an accelerated development and production process. This aims to deploy new operational capabilities within months. CEOs of defense industries and senior officials from the IDF and Ministry of Defense attended the trial.
The Ministry of Defense provided photos of some of the new prototypes.
Israel’s current aerial defense array is capable of hitting drones, which are slower-moving than rockets and missiles. However, drones are also smaller and can fly low to the ground, making them more difficult for radar to detect.
In addition, there is ongoing innovation in drone technology in Iran and Russia, the two major suppliers of drones to Hezbollah, such that existing Israeli systems must constantly adapt to new drones, and are at risk of falling behind.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.