The Oron was supposed to become operational in early 2024. It is a state-of-the-art mission aircraft, almost unparalleled worldwide, developed by the Defense Ministry and Israel Aerospace Industries, a peak achievement of Israeli ingenuity.

Col. B., head of the systems department at the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development, calls it “an intelligence machine.” But then came Oct. 7, 2023.

Barely two weeks later, before the IDF ground operation in Gaza had even begun, the aircraft was inaugurated. “It wasn’t supposed to be ready for wartime, but because of operational needs, we managed to put it into service just weeks after the war began,” B. recalled.

The Oron, which has been crisscrossing Middle Eastern skies for the past two years, was born deep inside the

See Full Page