The new Gadgets of the Israeli Infantry Soldier

The new Gadgets of the Israeli Infantry Soldier

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By ARIE EGOZI

The gear carried by a combat infantry soldier is changing. The new technology will allow the lone soldier to perform missions that he could not dream of until now.

The infantry soldier will have big pouches on his combat vest and they will be full of small “individual helpers”. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have a plan and the local industry is working to perform it.

While Israel aerospace industries (IAI) is developing a number of “butterflies” miniature intelligence gathering systems, other concepts are being evaluated.

The IAI miniature flying camera is based on mimicking the way the butterfly’s wings are used in flying. This system weighs close to nothing and is carrying a super miniature camera.

But other companies are joining the trend: Rafael has partially unveiled a small tactical intelligence gathering hovering system. The plan is to equip many soldiers in an infantry unit with the micro hovering system.

The hovering system is carried in a small canister stowed in the personal gear of an infantry soldier. After mission completion it can be returned to the canister for further use.

According to Rafael, a soldier can carry a number of these hovering systems in his personal gear, together with a small control unit.

The operation is very easy and according to the Israeli company the systems can hover for 15 minutes  and can be operated after battery replacement for 50 hours without maintenance.

The micro system can hover to a distance of 1 km from its operator in an urban area and 5 km in an open one. Hovering altitude is 100 meters in an open area and 50 in an urban one.

Rafael plans to equip the micro system with a day CCCD camera and with a special night vision sensor.

The Israeli company says that the system is capable of detecting a person from a range of 180 meters, recognize him at a 60 meters range and incriminate him at a range of 30 meters.

Vehicles can be detected at a range of 400 meters  and recognized at a range of 60 meters.

Israeli sources say that the system is a real revolution in the tactical intelligence field especially for small units that covertly move fast from point to point.

And these two “helpers” are only those that have been unveiled. Others have been developed and some are still in the development process. Miniaturization of sensors and power sources , allow these “gadgets” to become an integral part of the list of personal gear a soldier carries on himself in combat.