The Joker up Israel's sleeve: The utilization of UAVs against Hamas

Senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an attack allegedly attributed to Israel on Tuesday in Beirut. What is currently known, according to Maariv, is that he was killed in a strike by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). 

Rotem Mey-Tal, CEO of the Asgard Systems company, which specializes in military tech applications, spoke to the Hebrew newspaper in an interview that was released on Thursday about the innovative weapons in the war against Hamas.

"Recently, we hear a lot about unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely manned aircraft, and people don't understand what it is exactly and what the difference is between the two. 

"A drone is a tiny aircraft without a pilot, which is produced by the military industry. Over the years, the drone has become a UAV - an aircraft without a pilot, produced by Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. In the 2000s, they started using the term UAV as a result of transgressions of the American term "unmanned aerial vehicle." In the last ten years, they realized that the vehicles are manned, but from a distance - so they changed its name again to remotely manned aircraft."

What is the uniqueness of the unmanned aircraft?

"It's like an ace up Israel's sleeve, and in some operations, it's even the joker. This is because of its varied and infinite abilities to perform a variety of military missions. Starting with intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, and rescue missions."

According to foreign publications, a UAV carried out the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Lebanon. Is Israel capable of such things?

"A very limited number of countries in the world have such capabilities, and all of them have security and industrial ties with the State of Israel."

Is this Israeli-made tech?

"Israel is in the small and prestigious club of unmanned aviation pioneers and is undoubtedly one of the most important exporters of UAVs in the world. But it is important to note that the Turkish Aerospace Industry, as a result of an embargo for many years that delayed its ability to purchase advanced military technologies, is catching up and independently producing large quantities of such tools for many customers on the eastern side of the world."