Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel has envisioned the design of unmanned aerial vehicles to attack enemy fighter-jets.

The Israel Air Force has been examining the prospect of a new generation of UAVs that could intercept enemy warplanes.

The proposal to the Air Force was meant to reduce dependence on expensive manned aircraft platforms, including the Joint Strike Fighter of the United States.

“The [unmanned] air-to-air mission is not a fantasy but part of the future,” former Air Force commander [Ret.] Maj. Gen. Eitan Ben-Eliahu said.

Addressing a UAV conference on Nov. 26, Ben-Eliahu asserted that Israel could develop UAVs to maneuver like fighter-jets. He said Israeli UAVs would also be capable of conducting air-to-ground attacks.

“So in the future, part of the process of replacing fighter-jets with UAVs will be the ability to start dogfights between UAVs,” Ben-Eliahu said.

The Air Force is said to have introduced attack UAVs in missions in the Gaza Strip. Foreign sources said an unmanned platform used to fire air-to-ground missiles was the Hermes-450.

The leading UAV developers in Israel included Elbit Systems and the
state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries. A senior IAI executive asserted
that an unmanned fighter was feasible.

“It was the first time someone at his [Ben-Eliahu’s] level spoke about
it,” Shaul Shahar, general manager of IAI’s Malat division, said.

  Elbit Systems, Hermes-450, Israel Aerospace Industries, Israel: Combat drones in dogfights with enemy jet fighters ‘not a fantasy’, Maj. Gen. Eitan Ben-Eliahu