Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Israel's New Killer Drone Designed To Take Out Iran's Missile Defense



The Israeli air force has a new toy...a killer unmanned drome, the Harop, capable of flying missions of over 600 miles ( 1000 kilometers) into enemy territory, loitering over an area for hours,spotting targets as they become exposed before activation and attacking them before they have a chance to respond:

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is developing a loitering killer drone that has the capability to hunt illusive ground targets, such as anti-aircraft systems and mobile or concealed ballistic missile launchers. This expendable unmanned aerial vehicles, known as Harop, can be launched over a suspected area without specifically acquiring a specific target. Designed to reach targets at distances over 1,000km away, the UAV loiter over a suspected area for hours, spot target as they are exposed before activation and attack them immediately. IAI is already negotiating potential export sales of the weapon with India and Turkey. The company exposed the system for the first time in India, before the Aero-India 2009 airshow. ( JP note- Israel is one of India's main arms suppliers)

Harop resembles an earlier IAI's 'suicide drone' known as Harpy. The main differences are the outer wing extensions, the longer nose and canard foreplane. Like Harpy, Harrop is launched from a vehicle-mounted container. Harop augments the Harpy's RF seeker with an electro-optical sensor, allowing it to acquire and pursue non emitting targets and moving targets, as well as 'quit' targets such as shut-down radars.
As a loitering weapon, Harop can also be used against suspected ballistic missile sites, where it can target missile silos and shelters as they are opened before they can fire.



Among other targets, the Harop is capable of targeting and taking out the Russian radar-equipped S-300 anti-air missiles Iran has purchased from Russia to safeguard its nuclear sites before the s-300 is able to attack it....thus taking out little obstructions like surface-to-air batteries and radar installations and opening up Iranian nuke sites to aerial and missile attacks.

I have a feeling that weapons like the Harop in the hands of the Israelis are going to do a lot more to stop the Iran's nukes than Obama's 'negotiations.'

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love that "CEP" (circular error probability). Which side of the launcher do you want destroyed?

Very cool, and unlike the faked up Iranian weapons/planes/ships/super torpedoes...this one works.

Anonymous said...

IAI is already negotiating potential export sales of the weapon with India and Turkey.

ff your note on india is noted.

india & turkey, are they nutz?
india will soon break off the arrangement ff notes. but turkey is wrong on so many levels i just can't see that. as soon as they get their hands on it the rooskies/iranians will have it. india, even if they got one, would give it to the chinese to reverse engineer. if the iai do this they are nutz.

Freedom Fighter said...

Pretty impressive toy, no?

Actually, there are many ways to prevent reverse engineering in these things..for instance, changing certain components so they 're different and leave a defensive loophole,downgrading the software, parts that cannot be disassembled without being destroyed, etc.

Plus, India would be unlikely to send Israeli stuff to China (a) because it would mean the curtailment of any future business w/Israel and (b) India and China have had their problems in the past, and China has sold arms to Pakistan.

As for Turkey, the Israelis are pefectly aware of the direction the country is heading, and have doubtless taken the precautions I mentioned above against reverse engineering.

And Turkey, which sees itself as the potential leader of the Muslim world and theTurkic peoples of Central Asia woul dbe unlikely to give Iran an edge like that over itself anyway.

Regards,
ff

Anonymous said...

That's very good news.

Christian Atheist said...

Ditto the good news. And about time too, FF! I was getting tired of getting depressed everytime I looked here. I agree with your assessment, the Israelis are certainly no fools.Of course they will take precautions to prevent reverse engineering.As far as I know these steps are (or certainly should be) taken anytime advanced weapon systems are sold.Why would anyone arm another with their own best stuff if that stuff could be provided to one's enemies?

Freedom Fighter said...

Hey CA,
The US does similar things with the stuff we sell to other people.
And not killing off a source of materials ( and the all important spare parts to meke them run)is a powerful incentive.

It's stuff like bolts and bearing, aircraft tires and engine parts that can turn the most expensive jets or tanks into rusting statuary of no use whatever.

There's plenty of good news around...all depends on how you look at it.F'rinstance, the deeper and more obvious Obama gets, the more his approval ratings fall.People need to experiwence that to appreciate it, unfortunately.

The very fact that the electorate could be fooled into electing a charlatan and con man like Obama is proof that a lesson is needed, and many times education is not cheap.

Even those on the right side of things needed a lesson, so that they relearn what's at stake and make sure to hold thei rown accountable. That slipped up badly during the Bush years.

My point is that this is all positive, and my overall optimism about this country and its people makes me confident that we will prevail and come out of this stronger than before, and better off for the experience.

An enema is messy and smelly, but sometimes entirely necessary and a good thing at the end.

Don't despair. It's what the enemy wants you to do.

Regards,
Rob

Ymarsakar said...

That slipped up badly during the Bush years.

Yes, they let the Democrats hold Bush and the Republicans accountable for Democrat crimes.

That's never a wise thing to do.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully Israel will sell some of these weapons to us in America too!!

While I don't expect the Obama Administration or Congress to secure the US border with Mexico in the near future, the escalating drug war within Mexico has the real potential to fully spill over into America. This is the type of weapon that may be useful to both the American and Mexican governments in targeting drug trafficing gangs.