161 Squadron (Israel)

161 Squadron operates the Hermes 450 as a platform for intelligence collection, surveillance and airstrikes, with crews communicating with ground and intelligence forces during missions.[1] The aircraft is manufactured by Elbit Systems and is designated Zik in Israeli service.[1] The squadron is based at Palmachim, where its operators control aircraft from equipment-filled containers containing monitoring screens and communications equipment.[2]

The unit’s work includes both prolonged observation and the delivery of fire in support of ground troops.[1] Its commander has described a mission sequence in which an aircraft gathers information, identifies a target and carries out a precision strike, with another aircraft able to take over when fuel or ammunition is needed.[5] Although 161 became the sole Zik squadron within the Air Force in 2021, the aircraft is also operated by Artillery Corps unit 5252.[4][6]

161 Squadron was founded in the 1980s and initially operated helicopters before transitioning to unmanned aircraft.[1] Its earlier aircraft included Cobra attack helicopters.[7] An undated air-base listing also places 161 and 160 Squadrons at Palmachim as AH-1 units.[8]

The development of the Zik began with trials in the mid-1990s, and Squadron 166 formally opened at Palmachim in 1999 as the first squadron for the aircraft.[7] As 166 subsequently took on the larger Hermes 900, known as Kochav, its Zik aircraft were transferred to 161.[7]

Within the broader Zik program, the aircraft began replacing Apache helicopters in targeted killings and precision attacks in Gaza in the early 2000s and was later used against targets farther from Israel.[7]

A further reorganization in 2021 consolidated the Air Force’s Zik fleet in 161 Squadron.[4] Squadron 166 made its final Zik landing and moved to operating only the Hermes 900, while 161 absorbed additional aircraft, effectively doubling its Zik fleet.[4] The commander of 161 described the restructuring of squadron organization and operating methods as intended to meet current missions more fully and prepare for future challenges.[4] He also said that new systems installed on the Zik had increased its operational output.[4]

In 2021, the Black Snake Squadron participated in the Blue Guardian exercise at Palmachim alongside other Israeli Air Force drone units and participants from Germany, Italy, France, the United States and the United Kingdom.[3] Israeli teams operated the Zik during an exercise that combined basic instruction with more complex scenarios designed to strengthen cooperation among air-force platforms.[3]

The Hermes 450 weighs approximately 550 kilograms and can remain airborne for about 17 hours.[2] Its long endurance allows successive pilots to control an aircraft during the same flight.[2] Manufacturer data cited in a 2025 account gives an operating altitude of 18,000 feet.[6] The aircraft carries sensors for surveillance as well as capabilities for airstrikes.[2]

Pilots work at screens in ground-based control facilities and communicate with other operators and forces involved in a mission.[2] A squadron pilot interviewed in 2023 described assignments involving intelligence gathering, camera operation and strikes, coordinated with ground and intelligence units.[2] At the time of the interview, he had flown drones for four years; his full name was withheld for security reasons.[2]

By 2024, the squadron’s working routine included planned missions, scrambles, drills, training, briefings and operations rooms, resembling the organization of a manned-aircraft squadron.[9] Its commander, identified as Lt. Col. R., had previously served as an F-16 navigator.[9] He described the Hermes 450 as capable of remaining over an area for hours and making multiple attacks during a sortie, while pursuit of a single suspect could take an hour or two.[9]

Coordination with ground forces is a recurring part of the squadron’s operational descriptions.[1][5] The commander described its support role as detecting threats to troops and striking identified threats, with aircraft able to replace one another to maintain coverage.[5]

During Operation Breaking Dawn, the 66-hour Gaza conflict of August 2022, the IDF reported more than 2,000 drone flight hours across approximately 100 sorties and strikes on dozens of targets.[10] These figures covered drone operations rather than 161 Squadron alone; the aircraft used were principally Hermes 450s operated by 161 and Artillery Corps unit 5252 from Palmachim.[10]

Palmachim commander Omri Dor described drones as providing continuous intelligence used to develop targets during the operation.[10] Their tasks ranged from attacks on individuals or launchers to scanning areas in support of larger attacks.[10] The IDF also said drones identified civilians near some intended targets, leading to delays in strikes.[10]

During Operation Shield and Arrow in May 2023, Dor described the operational effort in terms of attack, defense and intelligence collection, emphasizing cooperation among Southern Command, the Shin Bet, the Air Force and Gaza Division.[11] He said an aircraft could collect intelligence and then be used in an attack, with targets checked before action.[11] Asked how often action had been stopped because civilians were nearby, he answered, “Dozens of times,” describing responses that included delaying, cancelling, adjusting an attack or using a different aircraft.[11]

Another account of UAV activity in Gaza included Dor’s description of cancelling an attack when children were seen running in a field.[12] These statements concerned Palmachim’s UAV operations generally and were not presented as a squadron-specific count or assessment.[12]

On October 7, 2023, two armed Zik aircraft were launched from 161 Squadron at Palmachim at 6:37 a.m., after the first rocket alerts.[13] The squadron then ordered three more armed aircraft into the fighting without waiting for a formal order.[13] At 7:14 a.m., Gaza Division requested an attack at the Erez crossing.[13]

Pilots recalled bringing aircraft into the response to identify and track terrorists and support forces on the ground.[1] One described the difficulty of distinguishing civilians, Israeli troops and terrorists who were close together, requiring unusually close and continuous coordination with ground forces.[1] An account of the day also described an operator withholding fire after identifying five people near Nir Am as Israeli soldiers rather than terrorists.[13]

A female pilot recalled personnel arriving from home and from the base, putting as many aircraft into the air as possible and working through the following 24 hours.[1] Their work included making connections with civilians to understand events and relay information to ground forces fighting to retake communities and rescue people.[1] Reservists also joined the unit, including some who returned from abroad.[1] Another pilot summarized the experience: “We tried to defend our forces; it was something out of the normal.”[2]

An operator-based account gave a total of 110 strikes against approximately 1,000 targets by the end of the day, most of them inside Israel.[13] A pilot interviewed separately said the squadron got every available aircraft airborne with munitions and killed dozens of terrorists.[2] The squadron commander later described the unit as initially poorly positioned for the scale of the attack, while the Air Force characterized its entry into the fighting as a defensive effort.[5]

After the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war in October 2023, the Air Force increased UAV operations against terrorist cells in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[5] Lt. Col. R. said that 161 Squadron had conducted dozens of strikes there since October 2023 and that closer cooperation with ground forces developed during the fighting.[5]

The 2021 concentration of the Air Force’s Zik fleet in 161 Squadron made the unit the service’s sole operator of that aircraft while 166 Squadron specialized in the Hermes 900.[4] The reorganization combined additional aircraft with changes in organization and operating methods intended to improve the unit’s response to current and future missions.[4]

The squadron’s operational role brings surveillance and strike capabilities together in a single aircraft, with long endurance supporting extended observation and changes of operators during flight.[2] Its participation in Blue Guardian also placed its Zik crews in an international training setting focused on cooperation among air-force platforms.[3]

Published figures for the squadron’s October 7 strike activity and effects rest on operator accounts, including interviews with pilots whose full names were withheld for security reasons.[1][13] The claim that dozens of terrorists were killed was not presented as an independently verified count.[2] Likewise, a 2024 account quoted Lt. Col. R. claiming that he had personally killed 33 terrorists and that his squadron had killed thousands, without presenting independent verification of those totals.[9]

A disputed Gaza incident involved a soldier’s WhatsApp allegation that a Zik operator had refused to fire because civilians were nearby.[9] A senior military source responded that an initial investigation contradicted the claim that the Air Force had decided not to assist ground troops; the incident remained under investigation.[9]

A separate 2025 report described a Zik on an operational sortie from Palmachim crashing near the perimeter of Hatzor Air Base after diversion because of unexpected adverse weather.[6] Technical failure and operator error were possibilities under investigation, not established causes, and the report identified both 161 and unit 5252 as Zik operators rather than establishing which unit operated the crashed aircraft.[6]