UAV Airstrike in Libya

An airstrike carried out on Tuesday 26th in Libya killed "several" fighters from the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, according to a Thursday 28th statement from U.S. Africa Command. It followed a similar UAV attack last week that Trump personally approved, the first in Libya since the one President Barack Obama authorized in January the day before he stepped down from office.

As for whether the command could carry out strikes wherever it chooses in Africa, an official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss current operations says it limits its actions to pre-established agreements with partner countries. In this latest instance, AFRICOM coordinated with the de facto coalition governing Libya known as the Government of National Accord. It has similar arrangements with other partners in Africa, including with Somalia to hunt Islamic State group fighters and with others to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.

"These strikes were conducted under the Presidential Policy Guidance," Defense Department spokeswoman Army Maj. Audricia Harris says, referring to a 2014 document the Obama White House released explaining the policies that would govern covert war. "That allows for the use of all available tools of national power to protect the American people from threats posed by groups such as ISIS, al-Qaida and their associated forces."

US downs pro-Syria regime UAV

A US warplane shot down a pro-regime UAV in Syria on Thursday 9th after it fired at coalition forces, officials said, marking a new escalation of tensions in the war-torn country’s south. Although the weapon the UAV deployed had hit only dirt, the action was nevertheless “clearly meant” as an attack, as the UAV had fired on coalition forces patrolling outside the zone.

No one was hurt in the incident, which occurred near the coalition’s At-Tanaf garrison close to the Jordanian border, spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon told Pentagon reporters, but the UAV "was armed and still had weapons on it when it was fired upon by US forces from an aircraft,” he said. “Regardless of what kind of drone it was, it fired upon our coalition forces, and therefore showed hostile intent, and it was perceived as a threat,". The UAV was about the same size as a MQ-1 Predator, and it was not immediately clear who owned the aircraft or whether it may have been Iranian.

Israel shows its latest UAV interception technology

As leader in defense and heavy electronic warfare, the world has for many years looked to Israel for security and intelligence, and Israel’s defense industry has got  leading international companies exporting to countries across the globe.

It is the case of ORAD, an Israeli company based in Holon. According to Yossi Gofer, vice president of sales and marketing at the company,  its Drone Defense System DROM is the “most capable and cost-effective” system to counter the threat posed by hostile UAVs.

ORAD has already sold the system to clients in several countries including Portugal, Spain and Thailand. ¿Its main advantage? the cost reduction: Of course there are missile systems capable to shoot down a hostile UAV, but at $3 million per missile, this is an expensive way to down a device that may only be worth $200: As far as I remember, in August 2014, a Patriot missile shot down a drone that entered Israeli airspace from the Quneitra region in Syria close to the Israeli border. But the scene got worse two years after, when in July 2016, two Patriot missiles were fired at a hostile UAV that crossed into Israeli airspace from Syria: Both missed their target and the unmanned aircraft returned to Syria. Probably the Israel enemies still are remembering it and laughing. 

Technically, the DROM has a weight of just 38 kilograms and comes pre-engineered and pre-assembled to be easily deployed on land or at sea in any weather conditions, to detect an approaching UAV at more than 3.5 kilometers away and take its control. Very useful to fight against the Islamic State, that has used weaponized drones against both Syrian and Iraqi forces, and groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, who have sent UAVs into Israel and are said to have been working on upgrading the group’s UAVs for use in both offensive operations and intelligence gathering.

The latest version of the system also comes with an RF Detection Unit, that detects the presence of a UAV by analyzing signaling channels and radio transmissions. Once a UAV is detected, an alarm is automatically triggered and alerts the system operator of the UAV presence, to land it in a pre-defined location after intercepting it so any intelligence that may have been gathered does not fall into the hands of the enemy.

UK outlines extent of Reaper UAV strikes

The UK revealed on 21 March the extent of airstrikes being conducted against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria by Royal Air Force (RAF) General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). (Read more)

IDF shoots down drone from Lebanon opposite Haifa coast

 

At around 13:30 P.M., the Air Force control system identified the UAV, and launched fighter jets into the air. An F-16 jet then fired an air-to-air missile and downed the unmanned aircraft. (Read more)