Israel Scrambles F-16s As Unidentified Drone Enters Airspace

For the second time this week, the Israeli Defense Forces have resorted to scrambling F-16s after an unidentified flying object was spotted inside the country’s airspace earlier this morning. Air force jets were briefly scrambled and Israeli air space was closed, Israel’s army radio reported, without saying what caused the scare. The closure was lifted several minutes later. Earlier this week, Israel shot down an unarmed drone which had entered the country’s airspace from the Mediterranean. According to local reports, the air force had only managed to shoot down the drone on the second attempt and that the first missile fired by the F-16 jet missed the drone which was eventually brought by a Panther missile, the military's most advanced air-to-air projectile. Senior air force sources quoted by Yediot played down the incident saying it was not unreasonable given the drone’s small size. “This is not a failure, no other army in the world with Israel’s aerial defense systems could prevent the infiltration of such aircraft”.