IAI unveils AI-powered aircraft built to fight for control of the electromagnetic battlefield
ELLYON combines electronic warfare, intelligence gathering and real-time data processing in a single platform designed to detect threats and disrupt enemy systems from a distance.
Israel Aerospace Industries is seeking to merge two traditionally separate missions, intelligence gathering and electronic warfare, into a single airborne platform designed to operate from a distance while disrupting enemy systems.
The state-owned defense company unveiled ELLYON, a new-generation mission aircraft that combines electronic attack capabilities with intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) functions. The platform is designed to detect, analyze and classify information in real time while simultaneously conducting electronic warfare operations against radar, communications and navigation systems.
The aircraft reflects a broader shift in modern warfare, where controlling the electromagnetic spectrum has become increasingly important alongside traditional air power. Advanced militaries are relying more heavily on sensors, communications networks and data links, creating new vulnerabilities that can be targeted through electronic warfare.
ELLYON is designed to operate at stand-off ranges of hundreds of kilometers, allowing it to carry out missions while reducing exposure to threats. The aircraft integrates multiple systems that were previously operated separately, including signals intelligence (SIGINT), long-range radar capabilities, electro-optical sensors and satellite communications.
According to IAI, the aircraft’s mission management system uses artificial intelligence to process information collected from the various sensors, generate intelligence insights and transmit them in real time to command centers and other aircraft.
“ELLYON continues the tradition of combining technological innovation with proven operational experience, and unifies advanced intelligence, electronic warfare and mission management capabilities in a single airborne platform,” said IAI Chairman Boaz Levy. “It provides a significant operational advantage in evolving combat arenas.”
The aircraft was developed by IAI’s Elta division and is designed as a flexible system that can be integrated onto different advanced executive aircraft platforms.
Its electronic warfare systems are designed to operate across the electromagnetic spectrum, including the ability to jam radar, communications and GNSS systems. The platform can conduct multiple types of jamming operations simultaneously, including against air defense systems that rely on integrated radar and communication networks.
Beyond offensive capabilities, ELLYON also includes defensive systems intended to protect the aircraft itself, including threat detection, warning systems and electronic countermeasures.
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Dror Bar, CEO of Elta and a vice president at IAI, said the aircraft combines the ability to operate at stand-off ranges with the capability to collect information, process it and influence the electromagnetic environment.
“ELLYON represents a technological leap forward, combining stand-off range capabilities with the ability to sense, process information, and shape the electromagnetic space while creating operational superiority,” Bar said.
IAI said the aircraft was designed around shortening what militaries refer to as the intelligence loop, the process of detecting a threat, analyzing information and enabling a response.
The company said the integration of sensors, artificial intelligence-based algorithms and electronic warfare capabilities allows ELLYON to collect intelligence, analyze it and act against threats within the same mission.
The platform builds on IAI’s decades of experience developing mission aircraft for intelligence and defense missions. The company said its aircraft have supported air defense operations, intelligence superiority and strategic missions, although it did not disclose specific operational details of ELLYON.
