Military R&D head says drone threat on borders ‘moving toward a solution’

The head of the Defense Ministry’s military research and development unit says the threat of drones crossing Israel’s borders is “moving toward a solution.”

“In recent weeks, we have achieved a technological breakthrough in enemy drone detection, and we are now working on interception solutions using drone-based systems that enable response to swarm scenarios while accelerating the development of new directed-energy weapons,” says Brig. Gen. Benny Aminov at the International DefenseTech Summit at Tel Aviv University.

“The issue of low-altitude threats is an example of a challenge that requires our defense establishment to fundamentally change its operational approach, responding within compressed timeframes, spiral development, accelerating testing during the development process, and bridging small defense-tech companies with major defense contractors,” he says.

“Enemies continue to evolve in this learning competition. This drives us to develop robust solutions, and it is here that directed-energy weapons demonstrate their unique strength. Their distinctive characteristics enable us to address even the unknown unknowns — threats we don’t yet know we face,” Aminov adds.

Beyond the threat of attack drones from Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon, in the past year, there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons and drugs over the Egyptian border using drones, with the military struggling to detect and shoot down the relatively small devices.