Azerbaijan purchases Sky Dew missile-detecting balloon from Israel

ArmInfo.Azerbaijan purchased a Sky Dew high-altitude balloon system from Israel, which is equipped  with an advanced early warning system for missiles and aircraft.

According to Turan, citing local media, Sky Dew's mission is to  detect cruise missiles, drones and other advanced airborne threats  flying at low altitude and provide early warning. For this purpose,  the balloon is equipped with a long-range AFAR radar.

The balloon is able to provide continuous surveillance for several  days and is capable of tracking up to 500 targets with a detection  range of more than 250 km. It is also capable of avoiding ground  clutter, is especially useful for detecting low-flying threats.

The upper limit of the balloon's altitude far exceeds the limits of  ground-based radars, providing a much greater visibility range to the  horizon.

The Sky Dew balloon is one of the largest of its kind and was  developed by a joint venture between the Israel Missile Defense  Organization and the US Missile Defense Agency. Israeli media write  that the sensitive radar located on the airship is not only  relatively economical in resources, but also durable and does not  require expensive maintenance.

Data transmission between the Sky Dew balloon and its ground station  is carried out via secure fiber optic data links.

Last November, it became known that Azerbaijan would purchase  additional Barak MX air defense systems from Israel, designed to  protect against airborne threats such as aircraft and missiles.  According to Defense Industry Europe, the deal will be worth $1.2  billion.  According to the source, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)  previously demonstrated the capabilities of the Barak MX in  Azerbaijan; the tests included multiple launches of interceptors of  various versions of this system.

Barak MX is a modular mobile air defense system capable of protecting  against missiles of various modifications, as well as against  airborne objects such as airplanes, helicopters and UAVs. The system  includes three types of interceptor missiles with different ranges:  up to 35 km, up to 70 km and up to 150 km. All components of the  Barak MX ground system can also be integrated on trucks and deployed  to temporary operating sites.

According to estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research  Institute (SIPRI), in 2018-2022, Azerbaijan was one of the key  importers of weapons from Israel (Azerbaijan's share in Israeli arms  exports is 9.1%).