Live: Thousands of participants at the AUS&R 2014 Conference and Exhibition

Live: Thousands of participants at the AUS&R 2014 Conference and Exhibition

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Despite the stormy weather, the AUS&R 2014 even is a resounding success this morning: the rain did not bother the first UAV one bit as it took to the sky. One of the huge heated tents which house dozens of presenters in the unmanned systems field, you can watch industry professionals meeting with potential clients from Israel and abroad, army chiefs from around the world and massive global media coverage, both print journalists and broadcast TV.

The professional conference was opened by the Chairperson, Ofer Moldovan, who underscored that nowadays, organizations such as Google and Amazon are already using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).OFER-m

Unmanned systems conference 2014 – Israel

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Lt. Colonel Ben Weissman, commander of the Artillery Corps’ “Skyrider” unit, revealed that the mini UAVs entered Gaza’s neighborhoods along with the armored and infantry forces during “Operation Protective Edge”. The mini UAVs were right there next to the commanding officers, and they also took part in round ups of suspected terrorists in Judea and Samaria. “Skyrider” is a lightweight mini UAV which provides real time intelligence to battalion commanders.

Israeli Air Force (IAF) Colonel Hemi Barel, 168 Air Defense Wing Commander, provided a glimpse of Israeli air defense against enemy UAVs: “our mission is to identify hostile UAVs and intercept them before they cross the border over Israeli territory. The threat enemy UAVs poses is growing in number and stature. So far, all our efforts to foil the UAVs coming in from enemy airspace have proven successful.”

Elbit Systems VP Elad Aharonson presented in this morning’s session of the AUS&R convention, the Watchkeeper, a large UAV which was only recently unveiled in Afghanistan, about two months ago. The Watchkeeper features an electro-optic payload and an advanced radar. This UAV is designed for both military and civilian applications.

Shaul Shahar IAI’s VP described the company’s guidelines in developing UAV’s and described their vast use all over the world