Israel Matzav

IAF intercepts drone over Israel (with video)

Israel's Air Force intercepted a drone over the Northern Negev on Saturday. Here is the sum total of what the IDF is saying about it.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was identified penetrating Israeli airspace this morning, and was intercepted by the IAF at approximately 10:00 AM.

IDF soldiers are currently searching the area where the drone was downed, in open areas in the northern Negev, to locate and identify the drone.

The Times of Israel reports that the drone may have come from Lebanon. If correct, that may not be good. It's a long way from Lebanon to the Northern Negev. The drone might have crossed most of the country undetected. But the IDF seems to be downplaying the incident.

The IDF shot down a foreign drone that had penetrated deep into Israeli airspace on Saturday afternoon, flying for half an hour before it was intercepted.

After an initial investigation, military officials said the unmanned aerial vehicle, which was taken down north of Beersheba, did not come from the Gaza Strip, leading the army to consider the possibility that it originated in Lebanon. Hezbollah has flown drones into Israeli airspace a few times in the past, though not for several years.

IDF Spokesperson Yoav Mordechai said that the Israeli Air Force was able to identify the unmanned aerial vehicle while it was flying over the Mediterranean, and that the IAF stayed close to the drone throughout its flight over Israel until the decision was made to shoot it down in the northern Negev desert.

Nobody was hurt in the incident.

Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich said Israeli systems on the ground alerted the air force to the drone Saturday morning. She said it flew over the Gaza Strip but did not originate from the Palestinian territory, adding that Israel didn’t know the drone’s starting point and an investigation was under way.

Leibovich did not give more details, but Israel media reported that it might have been an intelligence gathering drone that was not carrying explosives.

Leibovich said the operation was successful and the military was in control throughout.

Here's a short video the IDF released of the drone being shot down.

Let's go to the videotape.

Labels: drone, Israel Air Force

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:59 PM