IDF Purchases FPV Attack Drones for the First Time

The IDF has procured FPV attack drones, the first batch of which will be used by special forces.

The Globes and The Jerusalem Post reported this.

The ground forces have selected Israeli unmanned systems company Xtend as the winner of a tender to supply 5,000 kamikaze drones and related equipment worth 20 million shekels, equivalent to $5.9 million.

The company will supply a previously unannounced model of a 10-inch drone with a payload capacity of up to 2.5 kilograms, with an estimated cost of NIS 3,500 per unit (~$1,000).

The company’s chief operating officer, Hen Haim, told The Jerusalem Post that the first batch of drones will be delivered to the Israeli military within two and a half months. Training of UAV operators will begin at the same time.

“Our drones will fly in front of the soldiers to reduce the risk to their lives,” Hen Haim said. “This is an important order that will make a big difference for our soldiers.”

Xtend outperformed competitors such as Robotican, Tehiru, CopterPix, and Elbit Systems in a tender for drones that had already been criticized for their low unit cost requirements and specifications that required the use of a Chinese-made component in the design – a Hong Kong-based video transmitter.

It is worth noting that the winner of the tender already has several models of kamikaze drones, some of which have an advanced system for target acquisition and homing without operator intervention.

It is worth noting that although this is the first official purchase of drones of this type for the Israeli army, its foreign intelligence has already used kamikaze copters in covert operations in Iran this year.

In the Twelve-Day War, Mossad cells used FPV drones in addition to guided missiles to knock out critical targets, including missile systems and air defense systems in the Iranian rear. Later, some of the caches with these weapons were discovered and demonstrated in the Iranian media.

In particular, it was about copters equipped with a 60 mm artillery mine or a cumulative charge. Some of them were launched remotely from containers in cars and trailers near military facilities.

Previously, the US Navy has experimented with the use of fiber-optic FPV drones during the Silent Swarm 25 military exercises.