Eyal Avidov: How Israel Became a World Leader in ‘Special Mission’ Intelligence Aircraft#News247WorldPress

Israel is building some of the most sophisticated special mission intelligence-gathering aircraft globally, according to Israel Aerospace Industries. The Israeli company recently announced a new contract for a $350 million aircraft to be outfitted for a European country with IAI’s ELTA Systems. These aircraft are unique for intelligence gathering and are key to managing the modern battlefield countries find themselves competing in. However, the specific components, capabilities, and elements of these sophisticated aircraft are often sensitive information or shrouded in secrecy.

Israel’s IAI and it is active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars built by its subsidiary ELTA have been innovative for decades. Instead of a rotating radar, these phased arrays consist of smaller radars conformally mounted on an aircraft, giving it a protruding nose or what look like bloated sides that are actually radars. They can be electronically steered in a variety of directions. Early use of these systems, such as the EL/M-2075 for the Boeing 707 and EL/W-2090 for an IL-76 in India in the 1990s and early 2000s put IAI at the leading edge of Israel’s move into developing its own airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. Israel outfitted both the Boeing 707 Phalcon and Gulfstream G550 between 1993 and 2010. The G550s, dubbed Eitam in the Israeli Air Forces, were incorporated into the Nahshon Squadron 122 at Nevatim airbase in the Negev. Israel currently operates a highly sophisticated air force utilizing its own version of the F-35 which has flown alongside the United States in recent exercises. During the November 2019 edition of Blue Flag Israel flew its Gulfstream G550 aerial intelligence plane as part of the drill

Israel’s IAI, the country’s main aviation and aerospace manufacturer, produces its special mission aircraft of air-to-air, air-to-ground, as well as air-to-sea intelligence coverage, capable of carrying out what it calls Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions. These include aircraft packed with sensors for maritime patrol, electro-optical, ELINT and COMINT missions.

There are four basic types of these IAI configurations. An airborne early warning and control aircraft, a multi-mission air to ground aircraft, maritime patrol, and SIGINT and electronic warfare aircraft. The configurations give an aircraft the ability to detect and identify threats at a long distance, or to aid troops on the ground to track moving objects and relay information. For maritime missions, the aircraft can track vessels or aid in anti-submarine operations, and also for signals intelligence, tracking signals using specialized sensors.

Israel’s IAI currently works with several airplane manufacturers to upgrade aircraft for these operations, including Dassault, Bombardier, Gulfstream, and Embraer. Despite coronavirus, Israel’s military and its defense technology relationships with countries abroad must continue, the companies say. New technologies are changing some of what these aircraft detect or where sensors can be put. For instance, UAVs offer a promising platform for some missions but they are also vulnerable to air defense, as the Iranian shootdown of the U.S. Global Hawk in 2019 illustrated. At the same time detection of UAVs and drone swarms is becoming more important. U.S. CENTCOM head Kenneth McKenzie warned about drone swarms during a recent presentation.

(Source: The National Interest)