TEL AVIV — The Israel Army has deployed a new miniature
unmanned aerial vehicle in counter-insurgency operations over the West Bank.
Military sources said the army has launched operations of the Skylark
tactical UAV for counter-insurgency missions in the northern West Bank. They
said Skylark began flying missions in late 2005 in what marked the first
operational deployment of the new UAV.
The Israel Army has procured about four Skylark systems for trial
evaluations, Middle East Newsline reported.
In mid-February, a Skylark crashed during reconnaissance of a suspected
insurgency stronghold in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The sources
said the UAV was operated by soldiers of an elite brigade that targeted
Islamic Jihad operatives in the city.
The cause of the Skylark crash was not disclosed. The sources said the
downing of the Skylark, the first in Israeli operations, was believed to
have stemmed from human error.
The army intends to provide each battalion with a tactical
mini-UAV system, comprised of three air platforms and ground station.
