UAV CRASH IN LEBANON REVEALS SECRET ISRAELI WEAPON

On March 31, an Israeli drone crashed in southern Lebanon as a result of a “technical failure”, according to the Israeli Army. Experts were able to identify the drone as the Hermes 450 medium size multi-payload Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) manufactured by the Israeli Elbit Systems company.

Click to see the full-size image

Unexpectedly, the Hermes 450 UAV remains in the crash site revealed that it had been armed with at least four projectiles. Israel don’t acknowledge that Hermes 450 is an armed UAV and its officials have refused to confirm the use of armed UAVs on many occasions before.

Click to see the full-size image

This is not the first time experts come across an evidence that proves the Israelis are operating armed UAVs. A report by the UK Government Communications Headquarters, which was leaked by the American whistleblower Edward Snowden, revealed that some Israeli UAVs are indeed armed. A video from the report even showed an Israeli Heron TP UAV carrying a “missile shaped object”, according to the Intercept.

Source: the Intercept, click to see the full-size image

After a close look, experts were also able to identify the projectiles, that were carried by the Hermes 450, as an Israeli-made small diameter guided missile known as “Mikholit”. The specifications of the missiles are unknown but most open sources suggest that it is linked to the Israeli-made Nimrod missile, that’s guided with semi-active laser.

The Mikholit missile was first spotted during the Gaza Strip 2014 war. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) reportedly used the missile to target individuals of the Palestinian Hamas Movement in urban areas indicating the missile’s high accuracy.

Click to see the full-size image

In September 2015, the Mikholit missile made a second, more surprising appearance, this time in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. The ISIS-linked news agency Amaq released a video showing a Mikholit missile that had been used to target ISIS fighters there.

Click to see the full-size image

Following the incident, several Israel news outlets reported that the IAF had carried out several airstrikes using armed UAVs against the Palestinian elements of ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula.

And now for the first time ever we know that Israel is also operating armed UAVs over Lebanon, although the situation there is very stable currently. This suggests that Israel may be also operating such amed UAVs over other countries, mainly Syria.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif

Search This Blog