Ground and Aerial unmanned vehicles UGV UAV in the Israeli Army Defence Forces IDF 0103126

The Eye in the Sky – The Eitan Drone:

The Eitan was developed in Israel and unveiled for the first time to the general public in late 2007. With a wingspan of 26 meters it is as wide as a Boeing 737, but the Eitan can do much more than just fly. It is a medium-altitude, long endurance UAV, meaning that it can operate above altitudes of commercial air-traffic and can stay in the air for a flight-time of up to 36 hours. All weather capabilities, an automatic de-icing system, automatic takeoff and landing systems and a wide array of sensors which can be equipped to the Eitan’s belly, nose and wings, make it an extremely versatile reconnaissance platform.

“A large percentage of the IDF’s operational flight hours are performed by UAVs, sometimes even most of them. At any given time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there are drones in the air performing activities that IDF forces are engaged in.” says Lieutenant Colonel Ido, commander of the Israeli Air Force’s UAV training center.

“Our drone operators are extremely carefully selected. Within split-seconds they have to make life and death decisions and have to distinguish between terrorists, women, children, or our own troops. They sit in a safe room and their personal level of danger is the same as of someone on the beach in Tel Aviv. This kind of decision-making requires someone with a very orderly set of values: they know exactly what is right and wrong.”