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Israel’s AUS&R Unmanned Vehicles Salon Event

Nov 13, 2013

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

“Rishon Lezion joins other cities around the world hosting air salons. We will turn the event on November 26^th, the first Israeli unmanned vehicles salon, into an annual tradition.” This according to Rishon Lezion mayor Dov Tsur at a press conference held this morning. The event, organized by the iHLS homeland security news website, will take place at the local YES Planet compound. According to the mayor iHLS will be called on to organize the event in the following years, as well.

IAI Heron, during the final rehearsal before the event

According to the mayor the area in west Rishon Lezion is ideal for this sort of event: There’s an artificial lake for unmanned naval vehicles, a runway for aircraft and wide open spaces for unmanned ground vehicles. During the event Israel’s airspace will be closed in the morning and afternoon hours, and guests will enjoy live demonstrations in the air, on the ground and in the nearby Superland artificial lake. Many guests will attend the event, including commanders of air forces, acquisition and engineering personnel, and top officials from the Israeli defense industries.

The live demonstrations will feature the IAI Heron, BlueBird SpyLite, Aeronautics Orbiter, Innocon Spider, Amstaff and G-Nius UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles) and IAI USVs (unmanned surface vehicles). The vehicles won’t just fly, drive or sail around, they’ll also demonstrate their operational capabilities. Mock enemy squads will be positioned around the compound, to be located and engaged by the unmanned vehicles.

Zvi Naveh, founder and CEO of UAV manufacturer Innocon, said that the new Spider UAV has recently won an Indian defense contract. The aircraft flew high up in the Himalayas, at an altitude of 3,000 meters and facing strong winds, and eventually was chosen by the Indian authorities. “Today there are two UAV superpowers, the U.S. and Israel,” Said Naveh.

The city of Rishon Lezion is preparing for the event

Dan Tamir, pilot and aerial control expert, is in charge of coordinating the event with the relevant Israeli authorities – the civilian flight authority, the airports authority and the Air Force. The difficulty, he says, is that the area where the event on the 26^th is held is very close to the Air Force Palmachim and Tel Nof bases, and close to some Ben Gurion Airport incoming and outgoing civilian flight paths. The coordination process was long and had to be very precise, so that a schedule could be agreed on and radio frequency discipline could be upheld.

IHLS – Israel Homeland Security

Erez Rotem from Opus Media, in charge of recording and distributing media from the event, said that the entire day will be recorded and presented on giant screens installed throughout the YES Planet compound. A local broadcasting unit and three advanced cameras will stream content to guests and local and international media.

In addition, the Israeli audience will see, for the first time, images recorded by the UAV cameras and sensors and displayed on giant screens. In this way the viewers will not only watch the vehicles fly, drive and sail about, but experience firsthand their intelligence gathering capabilities. All content, in English and Hebrew, will be featured on the iHLS website.

The first Israeli unmanned vehicle salon will open with a gala evening on November 25^th, held at the Rishon Lezion municipal events hall, and on November 27^th the guests will tour the Israeli defense industries.

Speakers include top figures from the unmanned vehicle community in Israel, CEOs of defense industries and IDF representatives. Lectures given during the day include: