Less than six months after being showcased at the Paris Air Show, the Israeli Air Force's (IAF) latest spy plane, the Oron, has become fully operational. Defense Ministry officials were able to utilize the urgency brought about by the war in Gaza to streamline the approval process, normally a months-long affair, into a few days.
Ynet and its sister publication Yedioth Ahronoth have learned that the aircraft has already amassed hundreds of hours of flights and almost 100 incursions.
The Oron is capable of providing real-time air support for special forces terror crackdowns in Jenin, reconnaissance missions in Rafah to pluck out Hamas terrorists hiding among civilians, spotting weapons convoys from Iran to Iraq, identifying key personnel in the Iran nuclear program and targeting a vehicle carrying terrorists in the middle of Beirut, all in one flight. The Oron can conduct all of the above from over 40,000 feet.
Used for various operations in recent months, each flight the Oron takes lasts between 5 and 10 hours, potentially covering thousands of miles on each run. The Oron, which carries a $1 billion price tag, is used by Military Intelligence, the Air Force and the Navy.
"Israel Aerospace Industries is proud to develop and manufacture the Oron, which joins two of our other aircraft already in service," CEO Boaz Levy said.
"This breakthrough is only possible thanks to our engineers who have developed miniaturization technologies and AI-based algorithms and software implementations."