How Israeli technology was used against Taliban for the past 20 years

While the Taliban recently captured U.S. military equipment valued at billions of dollars, “It’s unlikely that the Taliban got their hands on the Israeli-made systems that hunted them for so long.”

By Josh Plank, World Israel News

Israeli weapons systems have been used by several Western coalition nations during the 20-year war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.

Israeli-made military equipment, including drones and missiles, were used by countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Australia.

While the Taliban recently captured U.S. military equipment valued at billions of dollars, “It’s unlikely that the Taliban got their hands on the Israeli-made systems that hunted them for so long,” the report said, due to the Canadians, Brits, and Germans having ended their fight several years ago.

The Spike NLOS (Non Line Of Sight) missile, produced by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, was one of the weapons used against the Taliban by British and Canadian forces in Afghanistan.

While use of the precision anti-tank missile was first kept quiet, the UK admitted to using the Spike, also known as the Exactor, in 2014.

The Heron TP, a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), was in use by the German Air Force in Afghanistan starting in 2010. The RPAs were involved in thousands of missions in reconnaissance, combat, and support roles.

The Canadians and the Australians used IAI’s Heron 1 RPA during the conflict.

Australia also used Elbit Systems’ Skylark 1 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) starting in 2005, and Singapore is said to have deployed IAI’s Searcher 2 UAV in Afghanistan in 2009.

Calcalist reported Sunday that sales of Israeli weapons to Western allies during the war in Afghanistan amounted to over a billion dollars.

“The Israeli industries responded quickly and were flexible, especially in UAV leasing transactions to Western countries who required them in Afghanistan, and as a result earned new customers,” a defense industry source told Calcalist.

“As Western armies reduced their presence in Afghanistan, contracts with Israeli defense industries also lessened. Over the past two years, there were barely any new transactions for forces in Afghanistan,” the source said.

Many have criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the withdraw from Afghanistan, abandoning large quantities of U.S. military equipment to Taliban fighters.

As first reported by the Washington Post in March 2012, the former leader of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, predicted that Biden would be “totally unprepared” for the role of president and would “lead the U.S. into a crisis.”

AfghanistanElbit SystemsIsrael Aerospace IndustriesIsraeli military technologyRafael Advanced Defense SystemsTaliban