Today, Israel is the world leader in unmanned aircraft development, and it all started with the work of enthusiasts.

In 1974, two officers of the Israeli army - Yehuda Ointments and Alvin Ellis - after demobilization decided to establish a company to build drones.

The solution came to him after the Israelites used in combat aircraft radio Firebee US production, which have been used only as a training target. The Israeli army has purchased them for war in the Suez Canal, to use as bait and switch enemy fire and reduce the losses of private aviation. But these huge machines have weighed half a ton, were bulky, pricey, and used only as a training target.

Then Ointments and Ellis decided to create a lightweight device, to equip it with the Israeli electronics and TV camera for conducting aerial surveys. The first prototype was assembled from the garage. But at that moment the army was not interested in the production of light drones and order them not to. Then engineers responded to the offer of "Tadiran" company, which made radio equipment for the army, and ordered them a prototype drone. As a result of successful tests, work on the production of drones returned to where it was planned initially - the Israel Aircraft Industries corporation, which started production of drones "Mastiff" and "Scout". The first drones were rather funny and certainly different from modern aircraft design, and features: a stock of fuel was enough for only a few hours, but speed did not exceed 100 km per hour. But they were not seen by radars, and they are perfectly cope with the intelligence.

Finally, drones took their irreplaceable position in the Israeli army after the war in Lebanon: then was the largest since World War II air battle in June 1982. The Soviet Union brought an incredible amount of rockets and artillery air defense cover for the Syrian troops. Once an Israeli drone spotted enemy anti air system and handed its position to ground commanders, two drones lunched form the ground- one as a decoy, simulating attacking aircraft to make the opponents SAM battery involved in the radiation of the second - fitted with equipment to intercept radar radiation (RLS) SAM.

The information processed by on-board aircraft computers, which provided data for targeting of anti-radar missiles. And then began the total destruction of the Syrian air defense systems: they neutralized "ground-ground" long-range rocket missiles and artillery, and the ball used cluster munitions, having the ability to be induced at the target with the help of infrared and laser beam. Thus, for the day of an operation "Arzano" Israelis destroyed 19 Syrian anti-aircraft missile battalions. At the same time during the air battles on 7-11 June the Israelis shot down 90 MiG-21, MiG-23 and Su-22, without losing any of its aircraft.

After that, the rise of the Israeli drone building began in 80-90s. Today the list of Israeli unmanned aircraft includes aircrafts from tiny, weighing only 300 grams - The Ghost Drones, which can be run with the hands, to the world's largest UAV "Eitan", with a wingspan of 35 meters and a weight of 4 tons. Today, Israeli drones commit a greater number of combat missions than manned aircraft. They have 24 hours a day guarding the Israeli peace. Israel share in the global market for drones is 41%. And it all began as we do - from the war, volunteers, enthusiasts and misunderstanding.