Leaked documents expose top secret Israeli drone

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snne

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Leaked intelligence documents have revealed that Israel possesses a highly classified long-range unmanned surveillance drone capable of covert operations across the Middle East.

The documents, which surfaced on Telegram on October 15 and 16, detail Israeli preparations for potential military strikes against Iran and point to the existence of a secretive drone program previously undisclosed to the public.

According to the leaked files, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) conducted covert drone operations between October 15 and 16, utilizing these advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for long-range, stealth surveillance. The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) confirmed the intelligence, observing ground personnel and equipment preparing UAVs at Ramon Airbase in southern Israel.

“The Israeli Air Force continued covert UAV operations from 15 through 16 October,” the documents note, adding that imagery analysis shows that Israel’s drones are capable of conducting sustained intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions over Iran and broader regional targets.

This information sheds new light on Israel’s intelligence capabilities, providing insight into a highly secretive aspect of its military apparatus. The long-range drones allow Israel to maintain a discreet presence over sensitive areas, particularly in Iran, where tensions have remained high due to Tehran’s nuclear program and support for militant groups in the region.

A source familiar with the leaked documents confirmed their authenticity, while U.S. officials are currently investigating the leak of the sensitive information. The revelations come at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, with both nations engaged in a complex, covert confrontation across multiple domains, including cyber warfare and clandestine military operations.

The leaked documents have also sparked concerns about Israel’s potential plans for military action. Israeli officials have long warned that they will take necessary steps to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, a point reiterated in recent months as negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program faltered.

In addition to the surveillance flights over Iran, the documents also highlight Israel’s broader intelligence-gathering capabilities across the Middle East. The undisclosed drone program offers Israel a significant advantage in monitoring its adversaries, with the drones providing real-time intelligence on military developments across the region.
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https://defence-blog.com/leaked-documents-expose-top-secret-israeli-drone/
 
Kinda on classified UAV base infrastructure
 
If I'm interpreting the pavement markings correctly, the big triangles are pointing at two runup hangars for aircraft. They're likely single engine, or have two engines on the centerline of the airframe.
 
Based on the preflight shelters size it seems like it has a maximum wingspan of just under 20 meters, so it’s not very big. It’s endurance must be somewhat limited for persistent operations in faraway Iran (it’s a 3200 km roundtrip to Teheran).

Now, if were to find some drone shelters in Azerbaijan that would change all that…
 
Aren´t triangles jet blast area? If the info for recon drones is legit, then 20m span for an axially mounted turbofan makes sense. It would still be twice as big as an RQ-170.
 
Q-nimbus said:
Based on the preflight shelters size it seems like it has a maximum wingspan of just under 20 meters, so it’s not very big. It’s endurance must be somewhat limited for persistent operations in faraway Iran (it’s a 3200 km roundtrip to Teheran).

Now, if were to find some drone shelters in Azerbaijan that would change all that…
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That's the wingspan of the S-70, and bigger than pretty much every fighter jet.
 
I was a bit to quick perhaps. The size of the shelter is 20 meters. I reckon there’s at least 3 meter margin for the wingtips each side as that’s pretty much the standard.

So that comes down to an aircraft with a wingspan of about 14 meters maximum so that’s pretty close to the RQ-170’s wingspan.

I actually wouldn’t be surprised if they actually are using RQ-170’s, even though it’s design is pretty dated already (actually, by the time we saw the first pictures of it 17 years ago it already seemed slightly dated and hastily put together. I would be surprised if a successor isn’t already flying and operational, next to the RQ-180. But that’s for a different topic).

So by my estimate we’re talking about small stealth drones with limited range.
 
snne said:
https://defence-blog.com/leaked-documents-expose-top-secret-israeli-drone/
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The actual documents state nothing about "stealth" features of this "covert surveillance" drone. This was apparently made up by a twitter user. The user claimed to be quoting the documents when saying "According to imagery analysis, Israel’s covert UAVs enable long-range, stealth surveillance over Iran and the broader region. " . This "quote" is almost entirely made up.

Any "stealth" aspects of these "RA-01" UAVs is entirely speculation or fiction at this point.
 
From BBC News website.

White House spokesperson John Kirby says the President Biden is "deeply concerned" about the leak of a pair of highly classified intelligence documents that describe preparations by Israel for a retaliatory strike on Iran.
It follows news that the US were investigating the leak, which reportedly saw documents published online last week.
Kirby adds there is no suggestion any further documents have been compromised and also says US officials have been comm
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Biden 'deeply concerned' about apparent leak of Israel plan to attack Iran https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93yre0gll9o


What leaked US assessment of Israeli plans to strike Iran shows https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6w6p8x7p8o
 
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quellish said:
The actual documents state nothing about "stealth" features of this "covert surveillance" drone. This was apparently made up by a twitter user. The user claimed to be quoting the documents when saying "According to imagery analysis, Israel’s covert UAVs enable long-range, stealth surveillance over Iran and the broader region. " . This "quote" is almost entirely made up.

Any "stealth" aspects of these "RA-01" UAVs is entirely speculation or fiction at this point.
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According to the news reports I’ve read the documents contained no images and were just a two page intelligence summary.
 
quellish said:
The actual documents state nothing about "stealth" features of this "covert surveillance" drone. This was apparently made up by a twitter user. The user claimed to be quoting the documents when saying "According to imagery analysis, Israel’s covert UAVs enable long-range, stealth surveillance over Iran and the broader region. " . This "quote" is almost entirely made up.

Any "stealth" aspects of these "RA-01" UAVs is entirely speculation or fiction at this point.
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Thanks, I wasn't aware of that. Still, the hangars are in a very secluded area in an already very isolated airbase, and they were built somewhere in the last 13 years. If Israel has any stealth drones or other secret airframes (persistent rumours about stealth choppers anyone?), this would be an ideal location to store them.
 
Q-nimbus said:
f Israel has any stealth drones or other secret airframes (persistent rumours about stealth choppers anyone?)
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Do they have an outdoor RCS range capable of measuring VLO targets?

Do they have the capability to conduct dynamic RCS testing?
 
quellish said:
Do they have an outdoor RCS range capable of measuring VLO targets?
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Would people necessarily know there was one there if it was semi-concealed most of the time? cf the one at BAE Systems Warton used for Replica, with the aircraft covered by a retractable hangar.
 
DWG said:
Would people necessarily know there was one there if it was semi-concealed most of the time? cf the one at BAE Systems Warton used for Replica, with the aircraft covered by a retractable hangar.
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An outdoor RCS range would be very visible to satellites.
 
DWG said:
Would people necessarily know there was one there if it was semi-concealed most of the time? cf the one at BAE Systems Warton used for Replica, with the aircraft covered by a retractable hangar.
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An outdoor RCS range is too large and distinct to hide

The Wharton RCS facilities were well known for many many years
 
quellish said:
Do they have an outdoor RCS range capable of measuring VLO targets?

Do they have the capability to conduct dynamic RCS testing?
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I don’t know, but I presume you do and that they don’t have those kind of facilities.

However, as I have postulated elsewhere on this forum, I don’t think stealth helicopters are stealthy in the sense of having a low RCS, but are stealthy in that they are very quiet.

In the case of this particular location, though, I think we can safely assume that the hangars are for fixed wing aircraft as they’re next to a runway and there are no nearby helipads.
 
Q-nimbus said:
In the case of this particular location, though, I think we can safely assume that the hangars are for fixed wing aircraft as they’re next to a runway and there are no nearby helipads.
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NIMA designated the UAVs as "RA-01" . This almost certainly means that NIMA first spotted the type at this airfield, "Ramon Airfield", and it is the first new/unknown they have seen there. In the 1970s and 1980s NPIC designated new aircraft seen at Ramenskoye as RAM-K, RAM-L, etc. "RA-01" seems to be an extension of the same practice.
 
Regarding RCS range, is that still relevant when RCS measurement can be done with close contact robotic hardware as there are some on the market already?

See also the apparently unused trapezoidal area immediately right of the western hangars. What is this? I don´t understand the curved wall.
 
GTX said:
Agreed. Are people talking about the triangular shapes?
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I think it's the facility in toto - it's an isolated facility, apparently for five aircraft, with two run-up/ready alert sheds. Probably safe to say something interesting's going on there.
 
GTX said:
Agreed. Are people talking about the triangular shapes?
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The white triangles are jet blast warnings (even top secret bases run afoul of the equivalent of OSHA!), and the fact that there's only one of them suggests that the aircraft that are run up in those covered pads are either single engine or have their engines on centerline. Not relatively widely separated like the various A-12 proposals or B-2/-21.
 
All part of a serious internal problem apparently. Over a year ago.
freebeacon.com

Iranian Spies Have Infiltrated the American Government, Lawmakers Warn

The Iranian government has infiltrated the Biden administration and obtained access to sensitive U.S. government information, according to a coalition of Republican lawmakers who are investigating the matter.
freebeacon.com freebeacon.com
 
TomcatViP said:
Regarding RCS range, is that still relevant when RCS measurement can be done with close contact robotic hardware as there are some on the market already?

See also the apparently unused trapezoidal area immediately right of the western hangars. What is this? I don´t understand the curved wall.
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Those robots perform diagnostic radar imaging. Different thing.
 
HI All,
Let me re-post this the Israeli's upgraded their strategic Eitan (Heron P) drone back in 2017 to give it global hawk like range. This is probably the drone used by them now for Iran coverage.


www.jpost.com

Israel Air Force upgrading its long-range strategic Eitan drone

Upgrades would bring the drone to the scale of the high-altitude long-range Global Hawk drone.
www.jpost.com www.jpost.com
 
This whole discussion around an RCS Range seems quite unnecessary to me. Please feel free to educate me if my knowledge is lacking, but aren't anechoic chambers a thing? Sure, they're more expensive but don't they offer more precise (or better put into word, easier calculations) with the added benefit of more secrecy?

images

6c04459a8036e2f3a2caf421c30ad86533c5346d.webp
 
snne said:
This whole discussion around an RCS Range seems quite unnecessary to me. Please feel free to educate me if my knowledge is lacking, but aren't anechoic chambers a thing? Sure, they're more expensive but don't they offer more precise (or better put into word, easier calculations) with the added benefit of more secrecy?
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A chamber is for near-field measurements. An outdoor range is for far field measurements. And a dynamic range is outdoor and measures targets that are moving or otherwise active, most commonly flying (and is also a far field range).

Near field measurements are different from far field measurements. They see different things. Near field measurements can be useful for small-scale models, but have serious shortcomings for full sized objects. To some extent near field measurements of a full sized object can be used to predict or estimate far field measurements - if you have really good models that are based on far field measurement data, which.... you would need an outdoor range to have in the first place.

Chambers have some advantages. It may be easier to make them "quiet" (depending on how quiet you need). They may also be cheaper (depending on how quiet you need).

Of course today the role of the chamber can be replaced by software, at least doing the development of an aircraft. The outdoor far field range though, can't. You need that full scale far field data to build and have confidence in your software, and you need to measure the full scale, operational aircraft.

So the chamber, at least for development, is probably the MOST disposable part of the process.

Outdoor RCS ranges don't have a "secrecy" disadvantage. Most RCS ranges have figured out how to hide what they are testing and how. There isn't much point in trying to hide the whole facility.

Unless COUNTRY X. which "hides" its RCS range in the middle of a city surrounded by WiFi and cell towers. Go them! I'm sure.... their.... measurements..... are very.... accurate.
 
quellish said:
A chamber is for near-field measurements. An outdoor range is for far field measurements. And a dynamic range is outdoor and measures targets that are moving or otherwise active, most commonly flying (and is also a far field range).
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Yeah, I entirely forgot about that or i guess spaced out for a while, thanks!
 
publiusr said:
Could a one way drone perhaps extend its range following a river using WIGE?
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No reason it couldn't but there are obvious tactical considerations. LOS to the operator is a big factor, sitting right down in the threat zone as a target along the flight path as then terrain and obstacles. I expect a WIG aircraft transitioning to regular flight would be difficult so would likely be an all or nothing thing.
 
publiusr said:
Could a one way drone perhaps extend its range following a river using WIGE?
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In theory, but most rivers on very flat ground loop and twist immensely. you'd need to have an up-to-the-last-major-rainstorm current map of the river to know where to turn via GPS if you don't have good nav sensors on the drone.

But you could probably skim over most of a sandy desert as a WIGE instead, using a simple TFR.

I suspect that a stealthy drone is better off climbing at its launch base so it's more or less edge-on to radars at the target area.
 

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