A drone pilot demonstrates the operation of a GRobot Can military drone capable of dismantling bombs with its robotic arm during a media demonstration by the Israeli Defence Force at an army base near Rishon LeZion, Israel, on November 26 2019. Picture: BLOOMBERG/KOBI WOLFIn a fierce battle for market share against world superpowers China and the US, Israel's drone industry likes to say it has a secret weapon — military experience.
But half a century later, tiny Israel is now a global force in the multibillion-dollar UAV industry, competing against China and the US. “In Israel all the people [in the industry] are ex-army soldiers, officers. The engineers who work on the development of the systems are actually operating the UAVs in the [military] reserves, in actual service. Then they come back to the office with actual and real-time feedback.”
Since then, the US has vastly increased exports of its Global Hawk, a higher cost and performance drone, as well as the Predator. These have sold particularly in European markets, pushing the country ahead of its ally Israel. Teal estimates the global drone market to be worth about $12bn in 2019, with that expected number to double in a decade.At a recent conference for Israeli drones at Airport City, an industrial zone close to the airport in Tel Aviv, a discreet guest sneaked in: Nadav Argaman, head of the Shin Bet internal intelligence services.The technology, he said, helped allow Israeli civilians to live “comfortable daily lives, without knowing what happens under the surface” — or in this case above it.