The Israeli Air Force (IAF) is having to adapt its aerial intercept tactics to contend with a marked rise in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) incursions over recent years, a senior official told IHS Jane’s on Wednesday.
F-16 pilot Major O said, “The main issue about drones is that they are smaller and less detectable, and they fly slower.”
“We have adapted by employing new tactics, devices, and missions…. The heat-seeking Python IV [air-to-air] missile that we use is so advanced that there are no issues with engaging drones.”
Maj. O showed a video of a UAV intercept conducted during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. The pilot “launched so late that the missile actually passed the drone before turning around…and coming back and hitting it head-on.”
{Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}
