The Israeli air force performed a planned crash-landing with an Elbit Systems Hermes 450 unmanned air vehicle near the Egyptian border on 14 July, after its operators detected a malfunction. The debris of the destroyed aircraft was picked up by a special unit.
In recent years, the air force has extensively used the Hermes 450 along Israel's border with Egypt and over the Gaza Strip, where it has been used to monitor terrorist groups. The service has developed crash-landing procedures to prevent any of its UAVs from coming down in Gaza or Egypt's Sinai desert.
On 11 May, the air force crash-landed an Israel Aerospace Industries Heron "Shoval" UAV into the Mediterranean during a routine patrol mission off the Israeli coast, following an engine problem discovered by its operators. The air force and navy dispatched search forces to locate the debris.
Source: Flight International
