Sputnik News & Arie Egozi / Flight Global – 2016-04-13 00:14:03
http://sputniknews.com/military/20160412/1037846493/israel-drone-grenade-suicide-palestine.html
FPS Russia
(January 10, 2013) — Inventors and hobbyists in Russia have also found ways to militarize drones. This technology can easily be mastered by any handyman-terrorist anywhere in the world.
Israel to Arm Soldiers With Miniature Grenade Carrying ‘Suicide Drones
Sputnik News
(April 12, 2016) — On Sunday, Haaretz reported that the Israeli army plans to deploy unmanned “Rotem,” a Hebrew acronym for “attack and suicide drone,” citing an executive at Israel Aerospace Industry (IAI) who produces the drone. The fleet of cheap “suicide drones” can loiter in the air before being dropped on targets via a tablet app.
The miniaturized drones will be able to carry grenades and a small camera, and are light enough to be able to be carried in an Israeli soldier military backpack. Unlike traditional unmanned aircraft, like the US Reaper, which requires trained pilots and runways comparable to a fighter jet, the smaller and inexpensive suicide drones can be hand carried.
The Rotem weighs some ten pounds (4.5kg) with suggested use being for soldiers to carry two in a backpack concurrently. The drone is a quadcopter (four-propellers) that can hover over a target area for up to 30 minutes.
The weapon is quiet and virtually undetectable, according to IAI, for up to 200 meters. The operator identifies the target and steers the drone before detonating the device’s two fragmentation grenades, destroying the drone in the process.
Rafael Unveils “Drone Dome” Anti-UAV System
Arie Egozi / Flight Global
TEL AVIV (April, 12 2016) — Rafael has unveiled its offering for countering malicious unmanned air vehicles, the “Drone Dome”. It defends critical sites against hostile threats, detecting, tracking and neutralising UAVs classified as malicious.
According to Rafael, the Drone Dome is aimed at countering UAVs that could perform aerial attacks or carry out surveillance they are not authorised to.
The all-weather Drone Dome has 360° circular coverage, and uses an electro-optical/infrared sensor and radar to detect a threat. The data is then combined and correlated and alerts the operator of the hostile UAV.
The system initiates either an automatic interference operation — as per pre-defined rules — or it is carried out manually by the operator. The threat is neutralised by activation of directional GNSS and a radiofrequency inhibitor/jammer.
According to Rafael, Drone Dome has a quick response time and causes minimal collateral interruptions to the surrounding urban environment.
Meanwhile, the fast proliferation of UAV jammers is pushing Israeli manufacturers to give systems better jamming capabilities.
Portable jammers are offered by many companies, including Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael.
The systems are designed to detect all types of UAV, including micro and mini systems, jamming their control links.
In recent months, Israeli UAV manufacturers have been approached by customers that want anti-jamming capabilities on UAVs.
The demand is for two main types of system: one that can protect UAVs in a given area, and another, which is carried by every UAV so it can be used for long-endurance missions.
In the recent Armenian-Azerbaijani border conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, there are indications UAV jammers were used by Armenia. Sources add, Azerbaijani forces may have jammers and both sides probably use Russian-made systems.
Russia has developed advanced jammers that, with adaptations, can be used against UAVs.
Israeli UAVs such as the BlueBird ThunderB and IAI Harop loitering munition have reportedly been used during the conflict, with one of the former shot down in early April.
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