Majority of IAF flight hours conducted by UAVs

December 5, 2011 by Idan Sonsino / IDF – defpro.com

IAF UAVs are taking on a growing range of missions, from intelligence gathering to supporting ground troops

The Israeli Air Force's (IAF's) use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has increased dramatically in recent years. UAVs now conduct more than 50 percent of the Israel Air Force's flight hours, Lieutenant Colonel Amir Weiss, from the IAF's UAV department, revealed at the 2011 Aerospace Conference last week.

According to Lt. Col. Weiss, "the flight hours of UAVs require a growing amount of missions, made possible by the growth of forces in significant numbers in recent years." He emphasized that the IAF is also investing resources in safety systems and he presented data showing a large decrease in the loss of vehicles in the past decade.

Lt. Col. Weiss noted that the IAF is rapidly developing the use of alternative energy in UAVs. Many UAVs already use solar energy and in the future UAVs will use fuel cells.

All the while, the IAF's fleet of various types of UAVs continues to widen the scope of its activities. Lt. Col. Weiss said that the UAVs have taken on a role of "immense importance" in the IAF.

"The spectrum of tasks is growing bigger," he said. "Already today, [the UAVs] are active in all types of IAF operations - from intelligence gathering to supporting ground forces. But there is plenty more that UAVs can do. There are endless possibilities for this platform."