https://defense-update.com/20210613_drone-swarms.html
per your link:
“In 2017 Elbit Systems was selected to provide multi-rotor drone systems based on a series of drones developed by its subsidiary Flying production.
One of these platforms is THOR, a multi-rotor VTOL drone that was designed to meet MIL-STD-810 requirements. THOR can fly at altitudes of up to 12,000 ft above sea level (3,660 m), and operate at extreme temperatures (-40 to +65), withstand wind gusts and heavy rain and snow, and resist the penetration of sand or dust. With a mission endurance of 75 minutes, it can operate at a radius of up to 10 km, flying up to 2,000 ft. (600 m) above ground. THOR can carry payloads up to 3 kg, including a high-resolution day/night payload.
The miniature THOR multirotor drone is designed specifically for military missions. It is smart, quiet, carries relatively heavy payloads (for its size), and can operate autonomously or under operator supervision at an extended range. Photo: Elbit Systems
THOR is extremely quiet compared with the common commercial drones, even as it flies at the maximum speed of 40 km/h. The drone features real-time datalink and control software designed for military users. It is suitable for operation in urban areas and open terrain with an automatic takeoff and landing capability and autonomous mission flight.
Other drones are purpose-built for specific missions, including persistent surveillance in urban terrain, indoor reconnaissance, and kinetic effects. By sharing a network, autonomous capabilities, and artificial intelligence, the drones operate together as a group or ‘swarm,’ leveraging unique capabilities and efficiencies that conventional means cannot deliver.
On May 6, 2021, as the fighting in the south erupted, the new S&D unit moved quickly to become the first military unit to operate drone swarms in combat. Within few hours, they deployed and fielded this brand-new system, seeking and destroying dozens of hidden enemy targets in complex terrain in rural and urban areas.
A clip from a recent exercise of the MDG showing a micro-drone employing a unique ‘perch and stare’ capability in a dense urban area. Source: IDF Spokesperson.
Within a few days, the new unit brought stunning results. A single company empowered by drone swarms, precision weapons, and comprehensive C4I delivered over 30 missions, destroying dozens of enemy targets several kilometers beyond the border. They were able to locate the enemy in complex urban and densely vegetated rural areas, designate targets, assess those targets at the company CP, strike the targets selected for engagement and perform battle damage assessment (BDA), all that done within minutes by drone swarms.
Following the success of these S&D companies, the GFC recommended converting all combat support companies in regular force to S&D companies over the next year. This new capability will dramatically improve the IDF’s combat effectiveness in dealing with a possible eruption of hostilities with Iranian-backed Hezbollah on the Lebanese border.”
So, IDF is going to covert *ALL* combat support companies to S&D companies ... this is really an astonishing, order of magnitude increase in military capability, vastly magnifying the lethality, capability, flexibility and SAFETY of ground soldiers ... and just as importantly for small countries like Israel, it doesn’t take massive industrial infrastructure and huge amounts of natural resources to produce these kinds of weapons in mass ...