The Eitan drone is able to reach great distances, reportedly as far as Iran and Libya, fly for 20 hours straight at a maximum speed of 143 knots and reach a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet.
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The investigation into the crash suggested that the incident was the result of a technical malfunction. An IAF senior official explained that the investigation showed a malfunction in the material that makes up the wing of the aircraft.
The malfunction was fixed over the past few months, enabling Eitan to resume operations.
Watch Eitan get ready for liftoff
(צילום: דובר צה"ל)
Weighing five tons, Eitan is 14 meters long and has 26 meter-long wings. Eitan is meant to be utilized in complex intelligence gathering missions. It has already been dubbed "the most advanced UAV in the world."
The aircraft will be examined several times in order to verify its ability to function properly. In addition, operations are to resume gradually.
"The engineering procedure that we have developed will include routine checks on other aircrafts," said the senior official.
The UAV, which crashed in January near Gedera, was completely destroyed in the accident. The damage was estimated at nearly $5 million.
The official source further said: "We will continue developing the squadron in effort to update its systems in the future."