New Details on the Israeli UAV

Yesterday I posted information on the Heron or Eitan, the new Israeli Air Force unmanned aircraft, suggesting that it could play a role in shooting down Iranian missiles in the "boost phase."

Here are more details which show an aircraft with even more capabilities:
Equipped with a powerful (1,200 horsepower) turbo prop engine, the 4.6 ton Heron TP can operate at 45,000 feet. [That's a line-of-sight of several hundred kilometers.] The Heron TP has a one ton payload, enabling it to carry sensors that can give a detailed view of what's on the ground, even from that high up. The endurance of 36 hours makes the Heron TP a competitor for the U.S. MQ-9 Reaper.

Now for more of this layman's speculation: The Heron may be able to observe and attack an Iranian missile taking off, using an air-to-air missile such as the Israeli medium-range Derby missile with its 50 kilometer-range and 188 kilo (280 pound) weight or Raytheon's Amraam missile. Or a more ambitious program would be to equip the Heron with an air-launched "hit-to-kill" Patriot PAC-3 missile which is under development. It weighs some 700 pounds. When launched from the ground, the PAC-3 has a 20 kilometer; air-launched would be longer. View the air-launched PAC-3 program on this Lockheed-Martin clip. [scroll down about 1/3 of the page.]

A few months ago, the following news item appeared in Flight International: "The U.S. Air Force is moving closer to launching a program to arm fighters and unmanned aircraft systems with the capability to shoot down ballistic missiles. Preliminary findings of a joint study with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency indicate that the air-launched intercept concept is technically feasible, says air force chief of staff Gen Norton Schwartz."

May the Schwartz be with you! -- Mel Brooks. Let Iranian intelligence try to figure out that message.

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Thoughts on the Situation, Part 2 -- Israel's New Strategic Weapon May Be Related to Iran

The Israeli Air Force unveiled its new aircraft, the Eitan, last week. It's an unmanned vehicle with the wingspan of a 737 aircraft, the ability to stay in the air as long as 20 hours, a relatively heavy payload, and a range of 1000 kilometers. Various publications point out that Iran is within range.

OK, why would Israel need such a large and long range UAV? Surveillance for sure, but ostensibly, Israel also has spy satellites for that purpose.

Let's go back a few years to remember a defense concept that was floating around -- "Boost Phase Intercept," an idea to shoot down an enemy missile while it is taking off. The lift-off is relatively slow and if the missile with its conventional, nuclear or chemical warhead can be destroyed, it would fall on the enemy's territory. Another variation suggested a boost phase launcher intercept, that is to destroy the launcher after the missile launch. The concepts kind of took a back seat with the development of the Arrow anti-missile missile, a sophisticated weapon that shoots down enemy missiles in mid-flight.

So now along comes the Eitan, with its 40,000+ feet ceiling, airborne early warning capability, probably the ability to carry a weapons payload, long endurance and long range (and probably a refueling capability). What do you have? I expect Iranian planners are wondering whether Israel has developed its boost phase intercept capability to go along with the Arrow.

Here's an eight-year old article that describes the boost phase intercept concept and details Israel's MOAB project -- the Missile Optimised Anti-Ballistic Missile System -- published by the Center for Defense Information.

Maybe the Iranians should look at it, as well.

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