In surprise attacks on Wednesday night, Israel carried out precision drone strikes against Basij militia checkpoints that had been set up across Tehran in recent days.
The drone attacks marked the beginning of aerial operations targeting forces involved in repression inside Iran.
Informed sources told Iran International that the Israeli military is carrying out such operations through a new method which uses a flying platform acting as a “mother launcher” to deploy drones equipped with artificial intelligence and a large database of targets.
Israel makes extensive use of artificial intelligence and computer guidance to operate the new weapons system, enabling wide-ranging surveillance, identification and precise strikes.
The system is said to be capable of facial recognition, allowing highly precise strikes based on the identification of individuals.
To enable broader use of the method, Israel, in cooperation with the United States, established air superiority over Iranian skies in the early phase of the military campaign against Iran which began on Feb 28. by suppressing Iranian air defenses, paving the way for the deployment of the system.
Most reconnaissance and surveillance operations in Iran are currently carried out using Israeli Hermes and Heron drones, as well as US MQ-9 Reaper drones.
Features of 'mother ship'
Israel’s offensive drone operations under the “mother ship” or “mother launcher” concept have four main characteristics:
- The ability to deploy large numbers of attack drones, including micro-drones
- The ability to conduct network-centric or data-driven attacks supported by artificial intelligence
- Operations based on an AI-driven target database capable of predictive threat analysis and identifying behavioral patterns of human targets on the ground
- An element of surprise due to high-altitude flight and the relatively low noise of the aircraft
A notable feature of the current aerial campaign in Iran is Israel’s move toward manned–unmanned teaming (MUM-T).
Under this approach, drones used in offensive operations in Iran are launched from three main platforms.
Transport aircraft such as the C-130 are used as drone carriers capable of releasing large numbers of attack drones at high altitude, allowing them to travel hundreds of kilometers beyond the range they could cover if launched from the ground.
Large UAVs such as the Heron, capable of flying at altitudes of about 45,000 feet, may also serve as airborne carriers capable of deploying micro-drones against repression forces and other military targets.
Israeli fighter jets including the F-15I Ra’am and F-16I Sufa can also carry smaller drones in pods or on wing pylons and release them at high altitude to act as decoys, electronic warfare disruptors or reconnaissance observers.
