Israel killer drones to counter Iran S-300?

Israel is developing a loitering drone capable of tracking elusive ground targets amid reports that Iran is seeking an anti-aircraft system.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is reportedly developing a killer drone, known as Harop, which can be used against "anti-aircraft systems and mobile or concealed ballistic missile launchers".

Video footage of the hunter-killer drone's test-flight showed a prototype of the system destroy a naval target.

Harop, which is deployed as a "fire and forget" weapon, is designed to travel over 1,000 kilometers to patrol an assigned area and attack any hostile radar activated in its vicinity.

The development comes at a time when the Israeli military is making preliminary preparations for launching a war against Iran to take out the country's nuclear infrastructure -- according to its annual work plan for 2009.

Despite Western doubts over the success of any military plan against Iran, Israel -- which terms the country as an "existential threat" -- has repeatedly threatened to take out Iranian nuclear infrastructure through aerial strikes.

Officials in Tehran contend that the country's nuclear program is directed at the civilian applications of the technology. Israel, however, accuses Iran, a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of developing nuclear weaponry. More

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