The IAI Searcher (also known by the Hebrew name מרומית ''Meyromit'' - "
Marsh tern
The name marsh tern refers to terns of the genus ''Chlidonias'', which are typically found in freshwater marshes, rather than coastal locations. The genus name ''Chlidonias'' is from Ancient Greek , "swallow-like", from , " swallow".
Species
T ...
", or officially in Israel as the חוגלה ''Hugla'' - "
Alectoris
''Alectoris'' is a genus of partridges in the family Phasianidae, closely related to Old World quail ('' Coturnix'' and relatives), snowcocks ('' Tetraogallus''), partridge-francolins ('' Pternistis''), bush quail (''Perdicula''), and sand and ...
") is a reconnaissance
UAV
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
developed in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in the 1980s. In the following decade, it replaced the
IMI Mastiff and
IAI Scout
The IAI Scout (known in Israel under its Hebrew name זהבן - " Oriole") is a reconnaissance unmanned air vehicle developed in Israel in the 1970s by Israel Aircraft Industries as a competitor to the Tadiran Mastiff. The project was led by Cha ...
UAVs then in service with the
Israeli Army
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...
.
Design
The Searcher looks almost identical to the
Scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
**Scouts BSA, secti ...
and
Pioneer, but is in fact scaled up and is well over twice the size of the Scout. The Searcher is powered by a piston engine. The new design features updated avionics and sensor systems with greater flight endurance as well as increased redundancy for improved survivability. In addition to Israel, the system had been exported and is or was in use by
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
, as well as
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
Operational deployment
More than 100 Searcher IIs are being operated by the
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct ...
and the
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...
.
It took part in the large-scale Russian-Belarusian exercise
Zapad in September 2021.
On March 13, 2022, the
Russian Ministry of Defence released video of the use of the updated Russian version in Ukraine.
Crashes
10 June 2002 – Searcher Mark-II, operated by
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct ...
for reconnaissance, was shot down by a
Pakistan Air Force
, "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional)
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = ...
F-16B using
AIM-9L
The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prov ...
Sidewinder at an altitude of 13,000 ft, after it was spotted by the mobile observation units.
11 July 2018 – A Russian ''"Forpost"'' UAV was found on 12 July in a field close to the village of Barqah, about 12 kilometres from the Israeli side of the Golan Heights (Syria) but none of the belligerents claimed the shot-down nor the loss.
On 11 March 2022, a Russian ''"Forpost"'' UAV was shot down in
Zhitomir Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast ( uk, Жито́мирська о́бласть, translit=Zhytomyrska oblast), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna ( uk, Жито́мирщина}) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the obl ...
.
Operators
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Canadian Security Intelligence Service
*
*
* - as ' (Форпост) licensed copy with a 250 km range. 30 systems with 3 UAVs each. The fully domestic version Forpost-R made its first flight in late August 2019. 10 Forpost-R systems were ordered. Deliveries of the modified UCAVs with reconnaissance and strike capabilities started in 2020. Russia has decided to continue domestic production of the Forpost-R.
* (retired; replaced by IAI Heron-1 in 2011)
*
*
*
Specifications
Searcher II MK3
Forpost-R
The Forpost-R is the designation for the Russian developed UCAV based on the IAI Searcher. In 2008, Russia had approached Israel to import drones following the
Russo-Georgian War, with Israel refusing to provide armed drones, an agreement was made to provide IAI Searchers MKII.
According to a YouTube video and information published by the Russian Ministry of Defense on March 13, 2022, Russian armed forces have used an armed version of the Forpost-R Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to destroy a multiple launch rocket system from the Ukrainian army from an altitude of 3,000 m using guided missiles.
Armaments (Forpost-R)
* X-BPLA anti tank missile
See also
References
This article contains material that originally came from the web articl
''Unmanned Aerial Vehicles''by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain.
{{IAI aircraft
Searcher
1980s Israeli military reconnaissance aircraft
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Twin-boom aircraft
Unmanned military aircraft of Russia