RAF take part in first western drone warfare exercise
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RAF take part in first western drone warfare exercise
In The Times. RAF take part in first western drone warfare exercise
The Royal Air Force has taken part in the first western military exercise on drone warfare. Personnel from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire were among five Nato air force teams to travel to Israel, where they trained on Hermes 450 drones, simulating joint operations with fighter jets and attack helicopters.
Brigadier Amir Lazar, commander of the Israeli Air Forces Air Division, said Exercise Blue Guardian was intended to strengthen international strategic cooperation and enhance the skills of drone operators in different conditions. It is the first time operators from different countries have worked together. For the Israelis, it was an opportunity to show their counterparts how they have been using unmanned aerial vehicles in combat for nearly 50 years.
Palmachim, where the exercise took place over the past two weeks, is home base to four Israeli drone squadrons. In the conflict between Israel and militant organisations in Gaza two months ago, it was a hive of activity, with up to 20 Israeli drones operating.
Lazar said: “All the countries participating in this exercise have had combat experience with drones over the last couple of decades, in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries. But they usually use a drone operating at long range.” Gaza and other battlefields over which Israel uses drones are much closer to its borders, sometimes only a few minutes’ flight time away, and the Israeli doctrine is to use at least two drones in tandem to sweep potential targets and to ensure before an airstrike that the correct target has been identified.
In Blue Guardian, foreign teams operated one of the Israeli drones while the second one was operated by an Israeli air force team. In some of the scenarios, an F-16 fighter jet or Apache attack helicopter was also flying nearby, their pilots receiving attack coordinates from the drone crews.
The US, France, Germany and Italy also sent teams to the exercise. Over recent years, close ties between the Israeli and British armed forces, which had generally been kept under wraps for fear of angering Britain’s Arab allies in the Middle East, have come out in the open. Last month, a joint exercise involving the British, Israeli and US air forces was held in Israel’s Negev Desert, with each nation using its F-35 Lightning stealth fighters. The RAF Lightnings took off from the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, which was operating in the eastern Mediterranean.
A British officer involved in Blue Guardian said: “It’s also a sign of how Britain’s attitude towards some of its strategic alliances is changing after Brexit.” The RAF team on the exercise was not acquainted with the Israeli Hermes 450 drones, but a version of it, the Watchkeeper WK450 is in use with the Royal Artillery and manufactured in Britain in a joint-venture with Israel’s Elbit company.
Brigadier Amir Lazar, commander of the Israeli Air Forces Air Division, said Exercise Blue Guardian was intended to strengthen international strategic cooperation and enhance the skills of drone operators in different conditions. It is the first time operators from different countries have worked together. For the Israelis, it was an opportunity to show their counterparts how they have been using unmanned aerial vehicles in combat for nearly 50 years.
Palmachim, where the exercise took place over the past two weeks, is home base to four Israeli drone squadrons. In the conflict between Israel and militant organisations in Gaza two months ago, it was a hive of activity, with up to 20 Israeli drones operating.
Lazar said: “All the countries participating in this exercise have had combat experience with drones over the last couple of decades, in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries. But they usually use a drone operating at long range.” Gaza and other battlefields over which Israel uses drones are much closer to its borders, sometimes only a few minutes’ flight time away, and the Israeli doctrine is to use at least two drones in tandem to sweep potential targets and to ensure before an airstrike that the correct target has been identified.
In Blue Guardian, foreign teams operated one of the Israeli drones while the second one was operated by an Israeli air force team. In some of the scenarios, an F-16 fighter jet or Apache attack helicopter was also flying nearby, their pilots receiving attack coordinates from the drone crews.
The US, France, Germany and Italy also sent teams to the exercise. Over recent years, close ties between the Israeli and British armed forces, which had generally been kept under wraps for fear of angering Britain’s Arab allies in the Middle East, have come out in the open. Last month, a joint exercise involving the British, Israeli and US air forces was held in Israel’s Negev Desert, with each nation using its F-35 Lightning stealth fighters. The RAF Lightnings took off from the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, which was operating in the eastern Mediterranean.
A British officer involved in Blue Guardian said: “It’s also a sign of how Britain’s attitude towards some of its strategic alliances is changing after Brexit.” The RAF team on the exercise was not acquainted with the Israeli Hermes 450 drones, but a version of it, the Watchkeeper WK450 is in use with the Royal Artillery and manufactured in Britain in a joint-venture with Israel’s Elbit company.
