Israeli Air Force releases video of mysterious drone shot down by an F-16 over Israeli airspace

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that had penetrated the Israeli airspace in the morning of Oct. 6, was identified and intercepted by what looks like an Israeli Air Force F-16 fighter jet at approximately 10:00 AM (07.00 GMT).

IDF soldiers are currently searching the area where the drone was downed, in open areas in the northern Negev, to locate and identify the drone.

Even if clearly identifying the type of drone is impossible, by comparing the size of the air-to-air missile that hit it, the mysterious robot seems to be quite small. Not as small as the bird-like American drone spotted in Iraq and Afghanistan, but probably much smaller that the Shahed 129, Iran’s new spy drone (an Israeli Hermes 450/Watchkeeper clone) allegedly capable of carrying missiles.

H/T to Guido Olimpio for the heads-up

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.