Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — The Israel Air Force, despite plans for a Joint Strike Fighter fleet, continues to develop unmanned aircraft.

The air force has been pressed to enhanced unmanned aerial vehicles for long-range strikes. Analysts said the air force sought to replace many manned air missions with advanced UAVs.

“In the future, the fighter jets will supplement UAVs and will be used in missions that require manned aircrafts for reasons of safety and money savings,” former air force commander [Res.] Maj. Gen. David Ivry said.

In an address in late November 2014, Ivry, also president of Boeing Israel, said UAVs were increasing replacing manned air force missions. He cited reconnaissance UAV missions as well as the prospect of combat payloads.

“A versatile weapon, like a fighter-jet, is one that can be upgraded with different systems according to the needs of the hour, and the UAVs fit that description,” Ivry, a former Defense Ministry director-general, said. “Lasers and other aids can be installed on them if needed.”

Ivry said UAVs could never completely replace fighter jets, “because there will always be missions that demand manned aircraft.” Still, UAVs played a major role in the 50-day Hamas-Israel war in July and August 2014.

“The main challenge today is finding targets in a very short time,” Shaul Shachar, head of the military aircraft division at Israel Aerospace Industries, said. “The targets are less detectable and spread over wide areas.”

“We have acquired new capabilities that allow us to get wider information that was not obtainable before,” Shachar said. “That said, I always feel that we are just in the beginning and have a long way ahead of us.”

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