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Israel Air Force Hones Patriot Batteries for UAV Defense
(Defense News) Barbara Opall-Rome - Israel's air defense network includes newly war-tested batteries of drone-killing, U.S.-built Patriots. As traditional threats from fast-flying manned aircraft give way to a surging new spectrum of slow, potentially combat-equipped UAVs, the Patriot is proving a prime time option for frontline defense. Three times in the past four months, Patriot batteries made history by blasting UAVs out of the skies that had penetrated Israel's southern and northern borders - from Gaza on July 14 and 17, and from near the Syrian border on Aug. 31. In October 2012, a Lebanon-launched UAV was downed by F-16s just north of Israel's nuclear facility in the Negev desert. A senior IAF commander noted that just a decade ago, the threat from UAVs was rare. "Today, it's a huge problem. We bear the brunt of it today, but soon many others will face similar threats."