Israel was the first nation to allow drones to operate in civilian airspace. The Israeli Civil Aviation Authority certified the Hermes Starliner autonomous system, which was built and designed by Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense electronics corporation.
According to Xinhua, the license would allow Elbit's drone to fly in civilian airspace like any other commercial aircraft, rather than being confined to unsegregated airspace. The Hermes Starliner, with a wingspan of 17 meters and a weight of 1.6 tonnes, can fly for up to 36 hours at an altitude of 7,600 meters and carry an extra 450 kg of electro-optical, thermal, radar, and other payloads.
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It will be able to take part in border security and anti-terror activities, secure large public gatherings, execute marine search and rescue, commercial aviation and environmental inspection operations, and precision agriculture tasks. The CAA oversaw the Hermes Starliner's design and manufacture, as well as a six-year certification procedure that included intensive ground and flying testing. International aviation laws ban unapproved aircraft from flying in civilian airspace for safety concerns, confining UAV operations to unrestricted airspace.
