Israeli Drones Can Carry 1 Ton Of Bombs Without Making A Sound When Dropped

JAKARTA - Israeli drones are capable of carrying gravity bombs weighing 1 ton, without making any sound or smoke when dropped, according to a high-ranking Israeli military officer.

According to a source who spoke anonymously to Reuters, with such capabilities, the drones will be difficult for enemies to anticipate and avoid.

After more than two decades of keeping it secret, Israel last July announced the pioneering combat drone it was developing.

In November, an Israeli general disclosed that his air force and artillery troops were operating the drones, which could be used to strike Palestine and possibly other distant targets such as Iran and Sudan.

As reported by ANTARA, Thursday, February 2, the drone is controlled remotely to send videos or drop bombs.

The combat vehicle is different from the suicide drone which Iran says was used in the Isfahan attack, which Israel declined to comment on.

The officer said that the Israeli armed drone fleet includes the Heron TP, a passenger plane-size drone made by Israel Aerospace Industries, and Hermes, a smaller drone made by Elbit Systems.

The Heron TP, said the officer, "is the heaviest drone owned by the IDF (Israeli Armed Forces), capable of carrying ammunition with an effective payload of around 1 ton".

However, he added that with such a heavy load it doesn't mean that the drone can carry a bomb weighing 1 ton.

"It really depends on the placement of the ammunition," he said.

The two Israeli companies did not disclose the capabilities of their drone weapons, which a number of sources in the defense industry have described as a secret policy of the Defense Ministry.

With its arsenal, Israel has become one of the largest users and exporters of drones in the Middle East, according to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a think tank in London.

According to the officer, every sale of Bomber drones is made between governments to avoid publicity.

The bombs for the drones, all of which are made in Israel, are capable of "free fall" at the speed of sound, he said.

Unlike Hellfire missiles fired from US-made drones, bombs on Israeli drones do not have a propulsion system that generates sound and smoke from the fuel.

The officer declined to elaborate on the ammunition.

He only said that by design, when the drone attacks "no one will hear it, no one will see it coming".

The target of the drones could have been fast-moving insurgents who were detected and attacked before they had a chance to launch their rockets, according to another Israeli official.

However, all of this can be done at a sufficient height, so that the drone's propeller engines can be heard clearly from the ground.

During the winter war, such as in Gaza in 2008-2009, the drones had to be flown under the clouds so that the surveillance cameras could work so that the drones could still be heard.

"You're missing the element of surprise," said the officer.

Despite having advanced armed drones, the majority of Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are unarmed because their main function is ground reconnaissance, RUSI said in an online report.