The Israeli Ministry of Defense has completed testing various counter-unmanned aerial system solutions, expanding the nation’s capability to address unmanned aerial threats.
The ministry said it conducted the latest round of tests with nine local companies, focusing on battling smaller unmanned aerial vehicles. Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries demonstrated how to detect drones and use a 30 mm cannon to remove the threat.
Throughout the exercise, almost two dozen advanced counter-drone technologies were evaluated. The solutions fall into two categories: using guns or projectiles to destabilize UAVs and using drones to take down adversary-controlled unmanned vehicles.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz categorized the development of counter-UAS technology as a national priority. “The UAV threat is an evolving and multi-arena threat that has expanded to all our combat sectors, led by Iran and its proxies,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Middle Eastern nation recently experienced several drone-led attacks that compromised national security. In October 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Tel Aviv using complex drone technologies. The Houthis group followed in July 2024 when it penetrated Israeli airspace, igniting drone strikes in Tel Aviv.