Prototype of Israeli jet stolen, page 1

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Topic started on 10-11-2003 @ 02:09 PM by quintar

I didn't know Israel was one of the leaders when it came to flying drones. I hope Israel steps up security for them, since it would suck if they were used against them.... Unless they have 'counter' flying drones

www.thestar.com.../Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1068463589919&call_pageid=968332188492&col=96870589 9037

JERUSALEM (AP) — Thieves broke into an engineering plant in northern Israel on the weekend and stole the prototype of a state-of-the art pilotless aircraft, the manufacturers said Monday.

Amir Rochman, marketing manager of Steadicopter Ltd., said the burglars forced entry to the plant early Saturday morning and got away with the 1.5-metre, 14-kilogram helicopter-style aircraft before a security patrol could reach the scene.

Rochman told The Associated Press that while a new prototype could be built relatively quickly, he was concerned that groundbreaking technology could have found its way to a commercial rival. He said police were investigating.

"Our product does not need to be manually guided by a remote-control joystick or other means," he said. "Once the map co-ordinates are programmed in, it flies itself. As far as we know this is the first to reach such a high degree of autonomy."

Israel has long been a world leader in development of pilotless reconnaissance aircraft, and its Pioneer drone is currently in service with U.S. forces in Iraq.

The Steadicraft project is a commercial enterprise, although the Israeli defence establishment co-operated in development of the helicopter, Rochman said.

He said that while there are many fixed-wing drones on the market, which are built for long range and extended flying time, the new prototype has unique capabilities, among them vertical take-off and the ability to hover.

"It's good for precision work, it doesn't need a runway, it can be transported in a pickup truck and launched at the touch of a button," Rochman said.

He said that while the aircraft has wide security applications, it also has civil potential such as checking high-voltage cables or use by the media.

reply posted on 10-11-2003 @ 02:13 PM by quintar

Here's some things their working on:

www.iai.co.il...

maybe I can buy one online and spy on people

reply posted on 10-11-2003 @ 03:51 PM by Lampyridae

Not exactly a Firefox style heist, now is it?

reply posted on 10-11-2003 @ 04:00 PM by THENEO

Any guesses as to who are the culprits?

I don't know why but my first instinct was Russian agents but frankly the US or other middle eastern states as well as other companies would be very interested in their work.

Seemingly a lot more aircraft will be robotic in future. I do not know how much use a model is though without blueprints and spec sheets and a part list but it must help in the overall design.

Any comments from aeronautical types on that issue of value of a model?

reply posted on 10-11-2003 @ 04:33 PM by Lampyridae

Take it apart and you can learn plenty, including all the little engineering tricks they use, what materials etc, plus its performance capabilities if you take it out and test fly it. Most blueprints are not of the whole system in its entirety, so you'd have to steal quite a lot of them. Remember, subcontractors and suppliers provide a lot if not most of the required parts, so nicking their stuff is also quite time consuming.

reply posted on 12-11-2003 @ 11:04 AM by Seekerof

A JET?..............
I found this article which says:
"Israeli robot helicopter stolen"
Link:
jang.com.pk...

"LONDON: An Israeli company developing a state-of-the-art pilotless helicopter has blamed the theft of its prototype at the weekend on industrial espionage.

The helicopter, which weighs 14 kilos (30 pounds) and is 1.5 metres (five feet) long, was snatched by burglars at Steadicopter's Kefar Maccabi plant, British news channel reported on Wednesday. It had just completed its final test flights, the company said.

The burglars took no money or computer software during the break-in, leading the company to suspect espionage.

Steadicopter Chief Executive Officer Tuvya Segal.said the helicopter was unique in that it was capable of independent flying without remote control. Many companies have tried but none of their tests worked, he said."

And this article that says it was a being worked on by a company known as "Steadicopter", as per quintar's article, working in collaboration with Israel's Aircraft Industries.
"Steadicopter's prototype pilotless helicopter stolen"
Link:
www.globes.co.il...

And here is a link to the "Steadicopter" site:
Link:
www.steadicopter.com...