On Saturday, a drone, flown from the Gaza Strip,
dropped an explosive device on a military position along the border fence. While no troops were injured, there was slight damage to an IDF jeep by the drone attack.
Hamas has sent drones into Israel in the past, leading the IDF to scramble jets or fire missiles to down the aerial vehicle. Such options, however, are extremely expensive for a device that can be worth only $200. Hamas is said to have been working on upgrading its UAVs for both offensive operations and intelligence gathering.
For many years, the world has looked to Israel, a leader in defense and heavy electronic warfare, for security and intelligence in this field. Additionally, according to foreign media reports, Israel is considered a leading exporter of drones.While drones and other incendiary aerial devices are usually cheap and can be bought on the civilian market, they are fast and remain a challenge even for skilled sharpshooters. So what technology does Israel have to prevent drones from infiltrating its territory? Here are a few options:• produced by ORAD, an Israeli company based in Holon, can detect approaching drones over 3.5 km. away, overhaul their piloting abilities, and neutralize them, landing the UAVs far from the operator.At a weight of 38 kg., ORAD’s DROM system comes pre-engineered, pre-assembled, is mobile, and can easily deploy on land or at sea in any weather condition. It has an effective coverage range of 3.5 km., with a 2 km. neutralization capability.The system also comes with an RF Detection Unit that detects the presence of a drone by analyzing signaling channels and radio transmissions. Once a drone is detected, an alarm is automatically triggered, alerting the system operator of the drone’s presence. The system is also able to identify the location of the operator, and land the hostile UAVs in predetermined locations so that any intelligence that may have been gathered does not fall back into enemy hands.
• The SMASH 2000 fire control system developed by Smart Shooter accurately neutralizes moving targets including drones. The SMASH 2000 provides troops with a precision anti-drone system on their weapons that has built-in targeting algorithms, which can track and hit drones flying at high speeds up to a range of 120 meters.With this system, the soldier selects and locks onto the target. The moment the trigger is squeezed, the system calculates the target’s movement and predicts its next location using advanced image processing and algorithms. SMASH 2000 prevents the bullet from being fired until the target is precisely in its crosshairs.
• D-Fend Solutions takes over communications of hostile commercial drones, landing them safely in a designated zone. The system relies on autonomous software-defined radio (SDR) technology to passively detect and differentiate friendly drones from hostile ones, at distances of over 3 km.Once identified, the system takes over the communication link between the drone and its operator, allowing the operator of D-Fend to fly it to a pre-configured secure landing spot. Since the system doesn’t rely on jamming its target, it can be operated in areas near wireless and GPS signals without any disruptions.
• Drone Dome by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is described by the Israeli defense giant as an “end-to-end system designed to provide effective airspace defense against hostile drones used by terrorists to perform aerial attacks, collect intelligence, and other intimidating activities.”
The all-weather system has 360° circular coverage and is designed to rapidly detect all types of UAVs that have been classified as threats up to a distance of 10 km. It uses an electro-optical/infrared sensor and radar to track the drones. It then neutralizes the drone using a few methods depending on the threat – by jamming radio frequencies, using a high-pressure water gun, or it can be equipped with a laser beam to destroy the hostile aerial vehicle altogether.