Drones are hand-held and can spy for miles
צילום: אלביט
IDF to use "mini drones" to find terrorists
Israeli Army will use special hand-held drones to locate Palestinian terrorists and weapon smuggling tunnels; deal finalized with Elbit Systems
The Israeli army will soon begin to use silent and close-range "mini-drones" to seek out terrorist gangs in the Palestinian territories and along the Egyptian border to search for weapon-smuggling tunnels to Gaza.
The Skylark Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are manufactured by Israel's Elbit Systems. Powered by electronic engines, the drones are launched by hand and can observe territory for up to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers).
Infantry units will use the drones to seek out terrorists in the West Bank and Gaza and construction of tunnels to the Egyptian border by Gaza gunmen to smuggle in weapons and explosives.
The UAVs can stay airborne for up to 90 minutes and can identify suspects from hundreds of meters in the air. But their main advantage is their lack of noise, a security source told Yedioth Ahronoth.
"The (drones) could hover over enemies at night, who won't know they're being followed," the source said.
