Aerial defense

Air Force Buys Mysterious Israeli Weapon to Kill ISIS Drones


The U.S. Air Force awarded a mysterious contract to an Israeli firm for equipment to counter small drones like the ones used by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

But service officials will not disclose the type of system and whether it uses electronic jamming, conventional missiles, a combination of both, or some other method to down enemy drones.

Here’s what we know: The Air Force awarded ELTA North America Inc. — a U.S. subsidiary of Israeli Aerospace Industries — a $15.6 million contract for “counter-unmanned aerial systems.” The contract announcement specifically references “21 Man Portable Aerial Defense System kits,” which will be delivered by July 28.

Man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS, are shoulder-fired missiles traditionally used to shoot down aircraft. So was that what was purchased? Not so fast.

Aerial defense

I See You: Russian-Made Sunflower Radar is Capable of Detecting F-35 Jets

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is the most advanced aircraft in the Pentagon's arsenal, but Russia's powerful over-the-horizon Podsolnukh (Sunflower) radar is capable of detecting and tracking the stealth fifth-generation plane or any other fighter jet that was designed to avoid detection, Svobodnaya Pressa reported.

The Podsolnukh short-range over-the-horizon surface-wave radar is developed by Moscow-based OJSC NPK NIIDAR. The Russian Defense Ministry plans to deploy several of these systems in the Arctic, as well as on Russia's southern and western borders.  

The radar is capable of detecting sea surface and air objects at a maximum distance of 500 kilometers (over 310 miles) at different altitudes in line of sight and over the horizon. The Podsolnukh "can simultaneously detect, track and classify up top 300 sea and 100 aerial targets in an automatic mode," the Global Security website detailed.

Aerial defense

Military tries lasers against small UAVs

The military is looking at ways to counter possible threats from the increasing number of small, low-flying unmanned aerial vehicles, including those that could be carrying bombs.

One potential way is through the use of lasers, which are themselves starting to become cheaper and more common.

“There aren’t a lot of ways to deal with UAVs right now,” said David DeYoung, director of Boeing’s Laser and Electro-Optical Systems. “Lasers, it turns out, very effective against UAVs.”